Unbound
by Surayo
Summary: In canon, Jiraya adviced Naruto to give up on Sasuke, but Naruto refused to give up, what if Jiraya tryed harder? what if Jiraya forced Naruto's onw word against him? This is a tale about a Naruto free from his promise to Sakura.
1. Bargain

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN NARUTO. NARUTO IT'S OWNED BY MASASHI KISHIMOTO

After failing to retrieve Sasuke, Naruto was understandable sad, it was his failure, there was no way around that fact.

Naruto was by no means, strange to failure, hell, failure was practically all he knew during his first twelve years of life, to the point where his successes where achieved thru perseverance and never giving up almost exclusively, it took him twice as long as the rest of the kids in the orphanage to learn the basics of writing, it didn't amuse the staff in the slightest, but at least he wasn't alone, his slow learning curve just a matter of not enough staff to do the job properly.

You see, he was not the only troubled kid to be found in the overcrowded place, certainly not after the kyubi no kitsune attacked Konoha, back then the public wasn't even aware that the kyubi was sealed instead of killed, just like outside the highest ranking shinobi in the village everyone ignored that the village had two jinchurikis containing the biju.

It was sometime after his fourth birthday that the knowledge about the kyubi's survival, and the individual it was sealed into, was made public by some unknown party.

With this information spread around konoha in a matter of hours, the masses where not happy, that knowledge was like a kunai reopening old wounds, reminding them of the terror, the pain and the void left by those whom were lost in the calamity.

A few of the more unstable members in the village, mostly civilians were caught planning on executing the kid whom in their eyes, was the kyubi itself, were apprehended by the ANBU and in turn, executed themselves under treason charges. This was made public along with a new law, forbidding to talk about the biju or its container to those that didn't already know.

This law was made with the intention of not only protecting the village secret jinchuriki, but to give Naruto a chance to live a normal life. The law, succeeded partially, no outsiders knew who exactly the jinchuriki was, but Naruto did not live a normal life.

The glares, the whispers, parents telling their kids to stay away from him started immediately after the law came into effect, shortly after that, he was moved from the orphanage to a small apartment where he spent the next eight years of his life, living off of ramen eggs and milk and the occasional meal treat of the sandaime hokage.

The less said about the academy the better, his time after becoming a genin was an opportunity to experiment success again, the kage bunshin no jutsu being his greatest success, it took effort, but he learned it using just the instructions on the scroll, it was as if the jutsu was tailor made for him, even if he didn't really understood half the words on it, he pulled it off.

Naruto can say without a doubt, that the time he spend with his genin team was the best of his life to date. Even with the endless chores the village calls D-Rank missions, even with crazy kiri nin out for the blood of their drunken charge, even with snake like creeps going after them in a forest of nightmares, even fighting giant sand tanukis on the head of a giant toad… especially while fighting giant sand tanukis on the head of giant toads.

But then it happened, the dead of old man Hiruzen, the sandaime hokage, Itachi and his Akatsuki partner after him, Sasuke beaten like a rag doll, by the man whom he swore to kill, and then… that genjutsu leaving him in a coma, utterly defeated, and him unable to help.

It was the timely intervention of pervy sage that saved the day, they all lived to tell the tale. But that was the day that would mark the beginning of his greatest failure: Sasuke's defection to Orochimaru.

Beaten and in a hospital, feeling all the weight of his failure, it was then that Jiraya came to him telling him rather than asking about the training trip he had planned for them, and his advice: Forget about Sasuke.

Of course, Naruto agreed to train, if not for ramen, he would live to train, but he rejected the advice, saying that he would not listen, that it was not late to save Sasuke, according to the white haired sannin himself, the have 3 years before the snake its ready to take possession of the Uchiha's body.

Jiraya, didn't agreed with him.

Then, the travel began, and after a couple of days away from konoha, Jiraya repeated his advice, much more forcefully this time, it was more an ultimatum than an advice.

Being the stubborn person he is, Naruto took the challenge to change the sannin's mind about the matter, they made a bet:

If Naruto could land a single blow on his new sensei during a sparring match against him, he wins, and he would receive the training from the sannin and after they were done, he would look for his teammate and fulfill his promise to Sakura, proving how amazing he is as a shinobi in the process.

If he loses, he would have to abandon the idea of actively looking for Sasuke, and accept any order from his sensei regarding his training.

The result was humbling, in extreme, Jiraya taught him a lesson that day, no amount of luck will make u win a bet with zero per cent chances of success, for he showed Naruto the abysmal gap in skill between an S-class Shinobi seriously intending to win and a stubborn genin.

In the end, it took seventeen hours for the genin to admit defeat, and the worst part was that the only thing he managed to do to Jiraya was keep him with an empty stomach.

Unable to stand on feet, hungry, almost without chakra, with small chakra burns on his arms produced by the use of his tenants red chakra, literally nothing worked against Jiraya, the rasengan he is so proud about, the hundreds upon hundreds of bunshins trying to overwhelm him with numbers… even a couple of toads made no difference.

Jiraya barely even moved more than two steps at a time, his punches where barely strong enough to dispel the clones, or to make the original aware that he knew he was the source of the seemingly infinite amount of punches and kicks, it was obvious he was conserving his energy, he didn't used a single jutsu in seventeen hours, yet, he was completely untouched.

"Just say it, kid" Jiraya spoke, like it was the first time he was saying those words, but in reality, he already lost count.

"I haven't lost yet, old man!" Admitting defeat… Naruto realized, would mean breaking his promise to Sakura, and he does not go back on his word and never breaks a promise.

Carefully analyzing the short blond, Jiraya, decided, he would make a final bet.

"You lost, Naruto, you don't have the strength to throw a single punch left in you, and to prove it, I'll just sit down here without moving, if you hit me, you win, but if I count to ten, and you don't, you lose, do we have a deal?" standing just a couple of steps away from Naruto, Jiraya was just waiting for the blond to accept.

"No deal, you'll just count really fast!" Naruto wasn't expecting Jiraya to do so, but he was trying to gather enough strength to actually punch Jiraya, it was his only chance!

Jiraya stretched his hand and brushed his index finger at the side of the blond's mouth, five hand seals later, there was an old, small toad between them.

"Jiraya-chan, are you two still at this?" the toad asked, after the blond tried to use the amphibian's help to win the bet, they spread the words among the clan, and the old toad did not looked amused to be summoned in this situation.

"Sorry Fukasaku-sama, we will be putting an end to it now, if Naruto agrees" said Jiraya getting the toad now known as Fukasaku's interest.

"And how do you propose to do that Jiraya-chan?" asked the small creature.

"Simple, I'll sit down in front of Naruto, and if after ten seconds, he cannot hit me, I win"

Naruto, still not feeling the strength to throw a hit said "I won't trust someone summoned by pervy sage to do the counting!"

"Very well" Jiraya still sounding as confident as ever conceded "Summon one of your own to do the counting" it would only be on his favor if the blond agrees to it.

"Tch. Fine" caught on his bluff the genin had no option but to accept, unable to stall any further, but already gathering some of his tenants chakra to help him with the punch, he had practically won by now.

"Hmm, Ok then, but don't make a habit of calling me for such mundane things, Jiraya-chan" the old toad seemed more amused than anything, but still felt the need to remind the toad sage, that he was not a toad he can call often, due to his standing among the toad clan.

With a smile and a small nod, Jiraya of the legendary three sat down in front of the genin.

"One… Two… three" Naruto was ready, the chakra in his belly was flowing on his system and he was guiding it to his right arm, with more effort than he though was needed his fingers closed and his hand made a fist "Four… Five" but the fist was heavy, it felt like he was lifting one of Rock Lee's leg weights instead of his hand "Six… Seven…" finally he managed to get his hand close to his chest, intending to unleash the most powerful punch of the day on the legendary pervert… but "Eight… Nine…" the chakra on his arm was burning him from the inside out, like the first time he made a bet, like when he was racing against time to master the rasengan "Ten…" his hand still refusing to obey his commands, his body unable to strike, after seventeen hours, the genin used most of his enormous reserves of chakra on countless clones, forming hundreds of rasengans, he had a rare case of chakra exhaustion and chakra saturation, simultaneously, his muscles locked his arm close to his chest unable to move even a little "You lost, Naruto-chan" as the words of the old small toad hit him with the full force of reality, he fell to the ground, totally exhausted, totally defeated…

"I can't… no, this isn't right… I… I made a promise to Sakura-chan…" The disbelief on Naruto's words was evident, moving his head to glare at the white haired man he finally said "Please pervy sage, I… I made a promise, you can't make me break it… please" he was clearly begging, he was unable to deny the fact that he was defeated, that he was bound by his own word, but now, for the first time two promises of his were conflicting with each other, he really wanted to keep his promise to Sakura-chan, even if it means that in the end she will have Sasuke, and he won't have her, at least his best friend would be back in the village, and at least they would be happy…

"I hope this teaches you kid…" Jiraya's voice was soft, caring and compassionate, they filled the young jinchuriki with hope "To not make promises you can't keep" he didn't understood, how such harsh words could be spoken in such a gentle way.

"Jiraya-chan is only looking out for you, Naruto-chan" Fukasaku's words carried the same gentle tone as Jiraya´s, but they were what finally made Naruto understand…

This is just another Failure to add to his long, and seemingly ever growing list.

With his eyelids closing and losing consciousness the only thing he could think was 'Sorry… Sakura-chan…'

0x0x0

"Was it necessary to do this, Jiraya-chan?" Fukasaku asked to the sage while looking at the unconscious form of the younger toad summoner.

"The kid was behaving the same way I did after Orochimaru left konoha, I might not be the best, most caring godfather out there, but…" as Jiraya spoke his eyes fixed on the horizon, looking on something that cannot be seen, remembering his own past experience's, his own failures, remembering all the chaos, dead and suffering his old friend caused in this world, remembering the time he could have prevented so many dead's, just by killing the monster Orochimaru became, that one time when he escaped konoha, remembering how he missed the date for Naruto's birthday to not lose the tail of the snake, which he did, remembering that the day the blond was born, he was supposed to be there, lending an apparently unneeded set of eyes on Kushina's seal…Remembering… that if he had choose to stop going after Orochimaru… maybe, Naruto would still have his parents, and his sensei would still be alive… so many, scenarios ran on his mind, all of them useless, this was reality " at least my godson won't have to suffer for the actions of a former friend".

"What are you talking about Jiraya-chan?" asked Fukasaku not knowing what started this whole mess, of course, he had no way of knowing the running similarities between master and student.

Jiraya let out a breath, he knew he had some explaining to do.

0x0x0

Naruto awoke the next day, alone in the camp that Jiraya must have set the day before, it was close to mid day according to the sun, but the pervert was nowhere to be found, his body aching, his chakra pathways burning he was defenseless at the moment, not to mention, his face devoid of life.

Not even in his sleep could he forget the beaten he received yesterday, and the bet with Jiraya, what the hell was he supposed to say to Sakura-chan "Sorry but I can't keep my promise because of a bet I made with a perverted old man?" and what about Sasuke? Was he supposed to let the snake use his bod like a suit? To just abandon him? But after the other day, what choice did he has?

"Welcome back to the land of the living brat" Jiraya's voice brought him out of his musings he had some firewood in one hand and a hare in the other, the hare reminded him that the last time he had eaten something was probably more than a day ago, he was hungry.

"Why?" he asked with a serious tone of voice, he will break a promise for the first time on his life, he decided, the sannin answer will determine if he keeps his promise to Sakura-chan, or if he keeps his word to him instead.

"You mean why I don't want you chasing after a boy?" the grin in Jiraya's face could be practically heard, you knew it was there without actually having to look at him, angrily, Naruto turned his face so he could glare at his master, it seemed to have the desired effect and Jiraya's face went for a well natured teasing one to a the face of a shinobi who survived thru two shinobi wars, but he still did not talk.

"I'm serious Jiraya" he said, without adding any nickname or title, he just wanted to know, Jiraya during the duel made it clear, he held nothing back in order to win, he made a point, he wanted to know why?

"You know," Jiraya started, his face still the same mask of seriousness "Orochimaru and me used to be teammates right?" he asked, as if he didn't knew It already.

"You, Tsunade-bachan and that bastard snake where all students of the old man, everyone knows that!" Naruto was irritated, what was the point he was trying to make.

"Just like that Pink-haired girl, Sasuke and you were Kakashi's students right?" Jiraya, really didn't want to explain this in detail, it is still painful, but to him it was evident.

"Not the same you pervert!" Naruto replied getting irritated with his teacher's antics "None of us is a backstabbing murderous bastard like the Snake!"

"You are right, Sasuke it's a chest stabber" Jiraya for his part, was getting tired, he didn't wanted to spell it to the blond, but he will if it's necessary, Sasuke it's on the same road Orochimaru choose, and if he does survive his former teammate, he will be as much as a monster as Orochimaru, if not worse…

"It was not Sasuke, it was the curse seal!" Naruto defended Sasuke, it had to be! Sasuke would never try to kill him like that if not for the curse mark.

"Did you knew, there is another person who has the curse mark in konoha kid?" this time Jiraya sounded amused, but internally he was suffering, in the end he would have to share his past with the brat, and hope he learns from his mistakes "But she doesn't go around stabbing people in the chest, despite her quirks, she is one of the most loyal kunoichi in the leaf, and she never let the seal influence her, and her seal was applied ten years ago, so she had time to stab a couple of people".

"Does she have the second stage of the freaking seal?" Naruto countered, he was getting tired of Jiraya comparing his murderous former teammate to Sasuke.

"No, she does not, and it does not matters" Jiraya was calm while speaking a total opposite of his student "If she did, she would not use it, the seal it's still activated by the will of the bearer" lifting a finger he continued "You have something far more powerful than Orochimaru's curse seal at your disposal, and from your report to Tsunade, you Used your tenants power to match the stage two of the cursed mark, am I right?" Jiraya asked Naruto simply answered with a nod of his head "The kyubi it's said to be a being of pure hatred able to flatten a mountain with a single swing of a tail, yet, you showed restrain and didn't stroke a fatal blow, like Sasuke when he pierced your left lung while aiming for your hearth"

"It's not the same!" Naruto protested with some rage.

"Calm down Naruto" Jiraya took a kunai from his robs and started to skin the hare "it's true, it's not exactly the same, both seals provide the user with tainted chakra, the factor that matters, is what the user does with said chakra, it says a lot about you, all of it good, and about Sasuke, it says nothing positive" with a single hand sing Jiraya lit the wood he brought on fire putting the hare near it to cook and continued "How I see things, Sasuke could be Orochimaru Jr. they are both the same" Jiraya said without looking at him, the hare slowly starting to change color with the fire.

"The hell are you talking about?! I told you, Sasuke its nothing like that damn Snake!" Naruto insisted, his rage evidently on his voice and his face becoming slightly more feral.

"He was considered a prodigy, he lost his family as a child, and he wants power. Tell me kid, who I am talking about?" Jiraya asked rotating the hare so it doesn't burn.

A little annoyed Naruto responded "Sasuke" everyone always talking about how great he is, even now, Jiraya reminds him of it, even while trying to make him forget the idea of bringing him back.

Chuckling Jiraya responded "Wrong, I'm talking about Orochimaru" that changed Naruto's facial expression from rage to confusion, so he pressed the point "Orochimaru and I were kids too, it was a long time ago, but we were young, just like you and Sasuke are now, he wasn't always the amoral, crazy murderer and plotter he is now kid, I don't know exactly when he started to change, but he changed, just like Sasuke"

"You cannot be sure he will end like Orochimaru just like that!" Naruto protested, sure they may have started in life in a similar way, but it does not guarantee they will end the same way.

"True, but they are not the only ones that are similar in my team and yours kid" Jiraya this time seemed a bit tired, he looked from the cooking hare to his apprentice "Kid, I don't think I've told you this, but you remind me a lot of myself when I was your age, you have guts kid" this surprised Naruto, somewhat unsure what does it have to do with what they were talking until now "we are so much alike, that when Orochimaru left… I went after him to convince him to come back" smiling in a teasing way Jiraya continued "I wasn't stabbed in the chest, but I too, was left injured while the bastard made a run for it"

Letting Naruto process what he just said, he waited a minute before speaking again "Kid, you have done enough for Sasuke, if you continue looking for him, you will lose other things in life, the way I did"

"Like what?" Naruto asked he had no one but his team, just Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke, and the Ichirakus if the pervy sage says he reminds him of a younger self, he could accept it, but like Sasuke and Orochimaru, they are not the same person.

"Like the night the kyubi attacked kid, I was supposed to be in konoha, but instead I was chasing the snake, Minato could still be alive, as could be many other people!" it wasn't much but for the first time the legendary shinobi allowed himself to show despair, hoping to get into that thick skull of his student.

"Minato? As in Namikaze Minato? The fourth hokage?" Naruto asked the man who sealed the kyubi on him, his idol, even after sealing a biju and fucking his life, he was still awesome.

"Yes kid, and not only that, there are so many other things I could have done instead of chasing Orochimaru, I could have completed the Sage arts training" Jiraya said but clearly exaggerating on the last part, not like Naruto know what the sage arts entail, it is not common knowledge.

"But we are not the same pervy sage" Naruto countered "I have no family but team seven if I stop looking for Sasuke, I would be abandoning my family" Naruto just wanted Jiraya to release him from the bet, so he could keep his promise to Sakura-chan.

"How old are you, Naruto?" Jiraya asked turning back to the hare on the fire.

"I'm thirteen" responded Naruto not sure why it was important all of a sudden.

"You have other friends in konoha, right? Even if they are not as close as you and Sasuke? Naruto just nodded his head still unsure of what the sannin was trying to say. "You are so young Naruto, you will grow strong, I'll make sure of it" Naruto just smiled at that, yes, he wanted to be strong enough to protect his precious people "and maybe you will find love, it could be with that pink haired girl or not, you can form a family Naruto, if you end up becoming hokage, you will have the whole village to protect" explained Jiraya trying to make Naruto understand what he could gain by abandoning the idea of going after his teammate "you will gain more friends, love, hell even may become a father at some point…" Jiraya extended his arms making a big circle with them "and you will leave all of them to go find someone whom does not want to be found" this time Jiraya pointed an accusatory finger at Naruto "It won't be fair to your other friends, friends that are loyal to you and will fight by your side, to try and find an old friend, what could happen to Sakura, or Kakashi or any of the friends that you have at konoha, if you are not there when they need you Naruto, protect what you have, chase your happiness, not Sasuke" finished Jiraya smiling at the blonde.

Naruto was genuinely touched by Jiraya's words but still not convinced "I'm not sure if I'll ever have a family, ero-sennin, I don't know if anyone will want to be with me, if they find about the fox" said Naruto clearly sad, but almost accepting his fate. A bit ironical if you asked Hyuga Neji about it.

"You don't know that kid, as I Said, you are young, only thirteen many things can happen in a lifetime" Jiraya said putting a hand in Naruto's shoulder.

"Besides, stay around me and you will learn your way with the ladies Naruto" Jiraya always confident on his ability to seduce any woman (but the one that truly mattered) gave him a smile.

"But why do I have to choose, sensei!" Let it be known, Uzumaki is not one with lack of ambition "I could have friends, family and Sasuke all in konoha!" Naruto said with a smile.

"It is possible Naruto, it can happen" said Jiraya with a smile.

"You mean that you are liberating me from the bet?" Naruto was excited to have convinced his sensei, but this victory was short lived, as he watched Jiraya shake his head.

"Naruto, you made a bet with me, and I expect you to carry on with your end of the bargain" Jiraya's words confused the blond, his sensei was sending mixed signals.

"But… it is still possible for Sasuke to come back to konoha on his own will, and if he does, maybe, that is the best way for him to go back home" explained Jiraya "Sasuke is his own person, he is similar to Orochimaru but not the same, so the chance exist, but the decision, is his to make, not yours Naruto, it was never yours" Finally the sage took the hare off the fire and offered it to his student.

Receiving the cooked animal from his sensei and before taking the first bite, Naruto made his mind, he just hoped that he could be forgiven for breaking his word this one time.

"I just hope the teme hurries before Sakura-chan finds out about our bet, ero-sennin"

A/N

I've had this idea for a while now, this will be a story about a Naruto free to focus on himself and his dream to become hokage


	2. Unable to resist

Chapter Two: Unable to Resist

Even with Naruto's healing factor it took him a couple of days to recover enough to be able to move again after the duel, not one to waste time Jiraya gave Naruto an atlas containing some of the most accurate maps available Konoha, the objective was of course fix Naruto's ignorance on everything that it is not inside the leaf's walls.

Naruto didn't complain at first, since he could not train, learning practical things seemed the next best thing to do, it was almost like training in his opinion, he still found the book to be extremely boring, and of course, he made his displeasure known to his master, multiple times.

The first night of camping was for Jiraya's amusement a verbal test of the knowledge Naruto should have acquired during the day.

Naruto does not like tests, they were the bane of his existence in the academy, his attention problems always made it difficult to sit still and listen to the class lectures or he was simply unable to read an entire page without getting distracted by a random fly in the room, yes, written test were the stuff his nightmares are made off.

However, while camping near to a road that appeared largely underutilized even flies refused to use the road and distract him, he managed to focus on the book on hand and study, about the country, its cities and natural marks.

0x0x0

After Jiraya's short test they ate a simple stew of hare provided by a healthy ecosystem of the land of Fire Naruto and then went to sleep.

While the young jinchuriki needed to sleep and recover from their duel, Jiraya was awake by the fire of their camp, looking at the flames with a smile, he could not believe that he managed to convince the genin to stop the chase of his teammate.

And as part of the bet now Naruto cannot refuse any order as long as it concerns his training, smirking the sage though of the things he would teach his student, the many things his previous students refused to learn because their views of the world… but Naruto will be different, because the strong headed blond, always does his best to keep his promises.

Taking out his map of the next town down the road Jiraya marked a series of spots on it, yes the best hot springs in the city.

The places where he polished his own stealth related skills, they will do a nice training field for Naruto…

0x0x0

The next morning Naruto awoke feeling none of the pain from the last two days, completely refreshed and ready to start his training.

With a smile he jumped out of his sleeping bag, judging the time by the sun he determined it must be around seven AM, looking around the camp he noticed the sannin still sleeping, hardly a surprise.

During his travels with the legendary ninja he noticed that Jiraya is not a morning person, one day, while on the mission to find and retrieve Tsunade, after they found her and him and his fellow blonde made the rasengan bet, he simply decided to let the white-haired man sleep and see how long it took him to awake on his own.

It turns out that if allowed and without any need to awake Jiraya could sleep past midday easily.

He and his master were not on a mission per say, but that does not means that Jiraya can just sleep all he wanted, the whole reason of the trip, at least on Naruto's eyes, it's training, training he won't get if Jiraya doesn't wake up.

"Hey wake up Pervy sage!" approaching to the sleeping form of his master Naruto kicked Jiraya's foot with enough force to bother the old man.

As the sage opens his eyes slowly and with obvious annoyance at being forcefully waken up this early in the morning, Jiraya looked at the sky looking for the position of the sun, narrowing his eyes he glared at his blond companion "Damn you kid!" this was not the way or the time to wake a respected shinobi like himself.

"It's time to train ero-sennin" Naruto could not look happier with himself at the moment, finally able to train, to become stronger, this was what the blond lives for!

"So you already had breakfast then?" Jiraya was a bit hungry, but he really wanted to sleep five more minutes.

"Uh… no, I haven't eaten anything yet" not that it seemed all that important, at least from Naruto's point of view, he could eat after some training "Come on, we can eat something after some training".

"Ok kid" Jiraya said while pointing his finger to the forest "there is a river two kilometers away in that direction, run there and bring us some fresh fish" the smirk on the sage did nothing to hide his amusement or his pride, in one move, he would get more sleep, food, and he would be training his student, yea, he was a genius!

"Aha! You are just trying to distract me from my training, that's not fair!" Naruto for his part saw right thru his teacher's ploy and was not going to fall for it… or so he thought.

"How is a morning run and survival training distracting you?" countered Jiraya, it would be good for his student to run that relatively short distance, not to mention that acquiring food in the wild it's a skill every shinobi must have, from lowly genins like Naruto to mighty S-class ninja like himself, it's a skill of universal value, besides, breakfast it's the most important meal of the day "Running alone counts as training, catching fish it's something even civilians must learn, not to mention, that by the time you are back here, you too will be hungry, now run!"

Grumbling about lazy old men Naruto too off in direction to the forest.

0x0x0

It took Naruto longer than he expected to catch the fishes, they were just so slippery and fast while in the water, a hard to catch prey, at least for him.

But now he was running back to the camp, as much as he hated to admit it, Jiraya was right, he was hungry, luckily for him, and he had six big fishes ready to be cooked, after a few seconds he got out of the forest and could already see the camp, it was exactly as when he left, his sleeping bag close to the bonfire, empty.

Equally close to the bonfire was the not so empty sleeping bag of Jiraya, with him still inside, sleeping.

When he arrived to the comp, he noticed they had no more firewood to cook their breackfast, a blond eyebrow twitching in exasperation Naruto could simply not hold himself from vocalizing his displeasure to his teacher.

"What's the problem with you ero-sennin, can't even get some wood?!" he was not going to stand for this, his lazy sensei was going to pull his own weight!

Without moving from his comfortable looking sleeping bag Jiraya just said "My problem is that I have an ungrateful kid to train, Naruto" now sitting Jiraya pointed out to Naruto "you kid, need more than just combat training to become a shinobi, you need to learn to plan ahead, just look at what you just did, you just returned from the forest, had you checked the camp before going you would have known that we needed wood"

"And you could not be bothered to get your ass away from you're the camp to get some wood, did you?!" so what he forgot to check if the needed wood, big deal, he is not the only person in the camp, he should not be doing all the chores alone.

"If I did that, what would you learn kid?" Jiraya insisted, this was not only him being lazy, he was also making a good point, Naruto needs to pay more attention to his surroundings, he needs to stop and think before running ahead and do whatever task needs to be done, and considering who the boy is, what he has sealed on his stomach, and the people chasing after it, the kid must learn fast.

"It sounds to me like you are just being lazy!" Naruto crossed his arms and looked away from Jiraya, he won't let the old pervert take advantage of him "besides, your excuse it's kind of lame" he added in the end.

"Ahhh, but it is not an excuse, you really need to develop these skills, sometimes, hiding, waiting and observing is the best tactic to use in battle"

"You sound like Shikamaru now" Naruto scoffed.

"Isn't that Shikamaru kid the only one who got promoted in the chunin exams?" Jiraya smiled a bit at that, he was cornering Naruto again, soon he would go back to the forest for wood.

"Yes, I don't know why Bachan promoted him tho, he only hide and run, and in the endm, he even gave up the match" Naruto was happy for Shikamaru's promotion, really, he just could not figure out what he did that was so impressive to warrant a promotion.

"I heard about that match actually, he was fighting a wind user chick from Suna right?" without waiting for the blond to confirm it Jiraya continued "she already knew how his jutsu worked from the preliminary matches, and kept distance from him, he hide behind the trees on the arena, he waited until the sun extended his jutsu's reach, the time he waited he thought of what to do to catch her, and from what I heard, he won the match but he said he didn't had chakra for another fight, only a fool enters a fight he knows he can't win" Jiraya laid down on his sleeping bag again and used his left hand to point Naruto towards the forest "now go and get some wood, I'm hungry"

"Well I'm not going, if you are hungry you can go get the wood yourself pervy sage!".

"Naruto, can you tell me the terms of our bet again?".

"I told you, I won't go after Sasuke already, now go get some wood you lazy old man!" Naruto stomped on the ground and pointed with his index finger towards the forest.

"But didn't we agreed on something else on that bet? Didn't we agreed that the winner of our spar match would determine how your training goes?" Jiraya was smiling while looking at the blond "I won, didn't I, and let me remind you, that means you have to obey any order I give you as long as it is for your training" now Jiraya was laughing "You are basically my slave now kid!".

Naruto's pupils seemed to disappear leaving only the white of his eyes and his jaw did its best to reach the ground, his arms lost all force and hung from his shoulders, he had completely forgotten about that part of the bet.

When he included that, he thought he was going to make the old pervert spill every jutsu he knew for him, he thought himself a genius for thinking of that. He did not consider the possibility of losing, he did not planned ahead…

And he does not go back on his word…

"Th… this is not training, this is a chore!" there was a loophole in the bargain, that much was obvious, even to him, if it is not for training, he does not have to obey.

"Kid, hate to break it to you, but gathering wood it's considered survival training" Jiraya pointed out, he too was aware of the loophole in the bargain, except, he can literally turn every aspect of Naruto's life, into some form of training "Life: its training kid now go, I'm hungry"

With his eyes fixed on the ground the young genin walked back to the forest… this was his life now, the slave of a perv… the slave of a super pervert.

0x0x0

After cooking breakfast for Jiraya and him, he finally got some training, Jiraya started him on a new taijutsu style: the Gama no Kumite, the style was based on maximizing the range of the fighter, making punches and kicks go further away than it seemed possible for the user, it was a style based on deception.

He was still struggling to get the basic katas down and his arms and legs were hurting, especially in the joints, but according the Jiraya it is normal for beginners to feel some pain since the style uses muscles that are difficult to train.

That was in the morning, for lunch he was forced to go hunting again and to cook for his master, again, under the excuse of survival training.

After lunch Jiraya told him that from now on, whenever they were not in a city he was to look out for food, cook breakfast for both of them, then train his new taijutsu until he awakens.

After lunch they took on the road again, apparently the next town will be their next training spot for the next two weeks.

0x0x0

Much to Naruto's irritation they walked all the way to the next town, it took them all the afternoon to get there, so when they arrived they had no sunlight to do anything else so they looked for a hotel to spend the night.

His master gave him a new book once they were on their shared room, this time instead of an atlas he got book that described the different plants and herbs indigenous of the land of Fire, the book described in detail the properties of a selection of medicinal and poisonous plants natives of their country, and curiously, it also pointed out which plants could be used to season the different species of animals that can be caught on the forest of the country… ero-sennin was trying to make him learn to cook! The teme…

Worst of all, the pervert escaped, and he was sure that if he were to look for him, he would find the sage in one brothel or a bar.

0x0x0

The next morning Naruto woke up ready to train again, so he tried to get his master out of bed… only to be informed while on a city the only thing different on his schedule was that he was not required to look for food, so he spend half of his morning practicing the katas he was showed yesterday while in the road, since they did not require too much space he stayed inside, the taijutsu style as supposed to be secret or something, when Jiraya finally woke up, he used the bathroom, showed him a new combination for him to practice and then the pervert went back to bed!

His real nightmare started in the afternoon of the same day, Jiraya informed him that while they were on the city he was to develop his infiltration and stealth skills via the trial and error method that was not the bad part, the bad part was that he had to infiltrate the local hot springs spy on the women side of it, and take notes on the body types of the costumers.

He was basically ordered to do his masters creative… research for his books!

The nightmare was, that everything else made sense on a infiltration and espionage type of mission, in other words: Naruto was unable to refuse because he was bound by his word to obey every order the pervert gave him regarding his training…

So here he was, on the roof of a building close to a hot spring place, just high enough to look on the other side of the wall, armed only with a notepad and a pen… looking at the women body on the other side… oh, and he has to take notes!

"Let's see, that brunette over there, I guess her boobs are at least C-cups, oohh that red hair is definitely a D-cu…"

"Hey is that kid in orange spying on us!"

He was spotted!

"Yeah, he is definitely looking this way!"

"Let's go teach him a lesson!"

'Now what?!' though the genin, he was never on this end of an angry mob of females, in an instant his self-preservation instinct kicked in and he made a run for it, he jumped from the roof and hide himself on an alley and waited all the time hearing yells from the angry mob, demanding him to show up and take up his punishment.

In the street he could see the angry women looking for him, stopping people and talking to them, without a doubt asking if they saw him.

"Damn you ero-sennin!"

One of them turned towards his alley, wait, did he though that or did he said that?

"I found the peeping tom Girls!"

He said it!

0x0x0

On the roofs Jiraya could do nothing but laugh, it was the most pathetic attempt to… research he'd ever seen.

Hopefully the boy won't be punished so badly considering how young he is, if not, at least he will understand why orange it's such a bad color for shinobi.

Looking thru his telescope's lens Jiraya looked at the scene on the alley, and it seemed that the mob decided to judge Naruto like an adult…

"It seems the boy will learn thru negative reinforcements" Jiraya's voice carried pity born from firsthand experience… but hey, he turned out alright, I mean, his infiltration and stealth skills are second to none in the continent, and he has a bank account with seven zeroes, he could have easily ended worse…

"Wait, why are they taking his pants off? And what's the deal with that rusty knife… yeah, they are definitely giving him the full adult sentence.

Finally Naruto managed to free himself from the hands of his assailants and escaped to the streets of the city, somehow, Jiraya thought that the runt ran pretty fast for a man who forgot to take up his pants…

"This counts as escape training I guess"

The legendary ninja was having the time of his life laughing at his student's misfortune, he only wished he had pop-corn.

0x0x0

"Did I lost them?" asked the blond while hiding on yet another alley, this time he was looking around for any signs of angry females.

After almost one hour he finally lost the last of the mob that was chasing him.

His eye was black and his check was inflamed, he had various hematomas on his body, he was somewhat willing to accept the righteous fury of the angry mob, after all they were the wronged ones and he was the criminal, but all sense of justice was replaced by fear when a woman bough that rusty knife and he heard the words… he dared not to even think of, he knew that what they wanted to do to him was beyond retribution and he would not pay a price that high!

So he just ran.

Hiding in an alley watching people pass down the street while waiting for the sun to go down on the horizon, fearing every female he saw as if they were a demon send by kami to make sure he left no descendants on this word.

However…he could also remember.

Remember the brunette with the C- cups, the red head with the D-cups, and maybe it was just his imagination… but he could swear there was a blue-haired girl with double D's …

'I better don't tell pervy sage about that' the blond thought, it was bad enough that he was being forced to spy on unsuspecting innocent woman, he does not have to like it!

Noticing that the yellow orb was finally down he decided that it was time to make a run for it and return to the hotel room to give the old pervert a piece of his mind

0x0x0

Naruto entered the hotel room he shared with his teacher holding his orange jacket forming a ball in his arms, it seems some women recognized him on the way, so he decided to play it safe and not use his jacket until he was in the security of their room.

"Hey pervy sage you there?" asked Naruto, looking around the room for any sings of his teacher, after a moment he decided that his master was still outside, in a bar or something.

Sighting he left his jacket on his backpack and decided to go out and get some food, with some luck, the city would have a good ramen stand.

He walked on the streets of this city he didn't know looking at the buildings he noticed that the all were eastern style and all of them where fairy old, unlike Konoha where they have many new buildings, and many of them where more of a mix between eastern and western style, of course, many of those buildings were replacing old ones, that were most likely destroyed during the invasion.

Noticing a ramen stand Naruto hurried to the place with a smile, it has been almost a week since he last had ramen, he was missing the taste of his favorite meal so bad now, looking at the menu printed on the wall behind the bar of the stand he immediately knew what he wanted.

"Three miso ramen please!" he said enthusiastically his mouth already salivating in anticipation, he was about to get a piece of heaven, how could he not.

"Sure thing kid!" the ramen chef was a mature red-headed woman with large breasts… she could not be the same right?

The woman was staring at him, as if recognizing him "Say kid, don't I know you from somewhere?"

Oh crap, yea she was the same one from the hot springs "I don't think so, my teacher and me just got on town today" he said trying to make her forget about him, good thing he left his jacket back at the hotel room, otherwise he would be doomed.

"You sure? You seem so familiar for some reason" the woman insisted her eyes scanning his face, as if comparing him to the other faces on his memories, then all of a sudden, her face turned onto one of recognition, her right hand wandering bellow the bar dividing her work station from the costumers, looking for something "You know, there are not many blonds in this town, and the only other one around your age that I know off is the pervert we caught spying on us in the hot springs earlier today…" her right hand raised violently holding a familiar looking rusty knife, that's how he knew he had to run.

Running for his life for the second time today he turned his head to look behind just to confirm that the red-headed woman was indeed on his tail swinging her rusty old knife as if trying to catch him with it while yelling "I know all of the ramen chefs in the town kid, I'll call them all and make sure no one sells you any ramen!" at him while he left her behind with tears falling from his eyes, the red-headed woman would never know, how effective her threats were for him.

For now Naruto knew, that he would not be able to get a taste of the glorious ramen while they stayed on this town.

0x0x0

After losing the angry ramen chef the blond decided to not risk getting caught again and entered a sushi place and eaten there, even if sushi was not his favorite meal by far, at least he could enjoy the lack of castration threats, yea, sushi was safe.

With his hunger sated he returned to the hotel room intending on getting some very well deserved sleep, however, as soon as he was inside he found his sensei drinking sake without a care in the world.

"You old pervert!" Naruto pointed his index finger at his teacher, it was all his fault "Because of you, no one in this town wants to sell me any ramen!"

"What do you mean?" asked Jiraya in an innocent tone of voice.

And so Naruto told him his story, him getting caught, the angry mob, the rusty looking knife, the ramen chef, everything.

"I don't think it was my fault that you got caught" was all Jiraya had to say.

0x0x0

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	3. Caught

They have been three weeks on same city, following the same routine as the first day they arrived.

For Naruto this of course meant: taijutsu in the morning, the afternoon was divided in two initially, first it was stealth and infiltration practice, the second part of his afternoon was to escape from an angry mob of furious females.

He was banned from all ramen bars, a couple of restaurants and one souvenir shop, all of them owned by females, and that was only the ones he was aware of before that time he went shopping.

He blamed it on Jiraya, for the blond, his master was the source of all the misfortunes he has been ever since they first entered the city, but the old pervert always put up the same excuse "It's not my fault if you get caught".

He endured the chases for two weeks before finally admitting to himself that he needed help, and kami knew he didn't wanted to, but he ended asking for advice to the one person he knew has the experience as a spy… Jiraya.

Jiraya of course laughed, his student was tired of running for his life, it took longer than he anticipated, the blond was so stubborn he was starting to suspect he was a secret masochist, but at last he could share his knowledge on the art of stealth.

He started by asking the blond some questions, that the jinchuriki responded very well, he did gave wrong answers, but it was to be expected.

After verbally teaching Naruto for a couple of hours, he made the blond admit that the colors of his clothes was what was giving away his position most of the times.

The day after the lecture the pair went shopping for a new uniform, it would have been much easier if Naruto wasn't banned from so many shops.

But they did got him his clothes, now Naruto sported a dark gray jacket a maroon t-shirt and black pants, he still had his old shinobi sandals since there was nothing wrong with them.

That was not the only thing they got for him, now Naruto was the owner of an orange yukata, the reason behind this was so he could blend better on civilian environments, such as festivals or formal meetings that Jiraya said he may take him to.

The third week Naruto was met with partial success, the first day after getting his new uniform the blond remained undetected for thirty minutes before retreating and show his notes to Jiraya, but he could not find his perverted teacher anywhere, he looked on every hot spring, every bar, the restaurants he was not banned from, but he could not find Jiraya anywhere, he went back to their hotel room hoping he was there, but that wasn't the case, so Naruto spend what was left of that afternoon practicing the gama kumite while waiting for Jiraya to come back.

"You are doing it wrong kid, you are supposed to move your shoulders with the rest of the arm to get maximum reach"

To say Jiraya scared him that day was an understatement, he talked directly behind of him no more than a meter away.

"Where have you been ero-sennin! I've been looking for you all day!" he asked back then

"Tch! I know, I was following you around all day too kid".

That was the day he started his training on searching skills.

Jiraya told him that now he must spend one hour and half undetected and take notes for him to check, but he would have to find him first.

And Jiraya could be surprisingly hard to find for someone with such a unique appearance, it took him hours to find the legendary shinobi, the old pervert knew how to disappear when he wanted to.

However, he was working hard to find him faster and faster every time, in the seven days they have been training this way he managed to diminish the time used from three and half hours to three hours and five minutes.

The old pervert encouraged him that he was using the same level of skill to hide all week, if that was true, then he has an accurate way to measure his progress.

He remembered the first time he tried to find Jiraya, it was as if the earth had swallowed him whole, he looked all over the town, bars, brothels, hot springs, the usual places but to no avail, in the end he found him while double checking one of the bars, he was actually disguised as a waiter, and the disguise wasn't even that good, just a normal uniform and glasses, he would kick himself for looking over such an obvious disguise.

At this stage of his training, he was learning to look for suspicious individuals, or little things out of place, and he wasn't even good at it, he still had a long path ahead of him but he was happy just to be walking it.

0x0x0

In the hotel room Jiraya looked over the notes Naruto had taken yesterday, they were as uninspired as ever, they only contained descriptions and behaviors of the women he spy's on, they were accurate and factual, but they were not like his masterfully created pieces of literature like his own notes, and his notes were still just unrefined first thoughts.

They boy was getting better on his stealth, and hopefully learning to be patient in the process.

Bitterly he recognized that spying on woman would still be like a chore he assigned to his student, but in time, he will appreciate the time he spends on stealth more than the time he spends trying to find him, it is after all, just a matter of time, be it days, be it weeks or even months, puberty was fast approaching his young student, and with it, the joys of the flesh.

If he does things right, Naruto will leave the pranks behind like a bad habit from his childhood, and maybe, just maybe, will come to admire the female population of the world half as much as him.

Looking at the calendar on the wall he realized that they have been almost a month in this town, they must leave soon, nothing good will come out of staying on the same place for too long, the kid would make unnecessary bonds with people outside the village or worse, the Akatsuki could get on their trail.

There was no clock in the room, but a shinobi of his caliber doesn't really need one all that much just to know that at this time of day the kid should still be on what he calls "stealth training", the day he gets the boy he is peeping will be the day he gives him the official tittle of pervert, that will be a day to remember.

Anyway, the kid should be hiding on one of his vantage points at the moment and since their time in this town is coming to an end, he should spice things a bit… just so can have the best learning experience of course…

0x0x0

Naruto was sitting cross legged in a roof with his notepad in his left and and his pen on the right one, his notes done for the moment, he described the women, their actions and it seemed that they were just relaxing there doing nothing.

Speaking honestly? He was a bit bored, sure it was fun at first, but all the women in the hot spring where at least twice his age.

And that seemed to be the trend on this town, no girls around his age or maybe one or two years older. But the girls between thirteen and fifteen years old in this town don't seem to frequent the bathhouses often, which was a shame in his opinion.

Involuntarily his mind wandered imagining a naked Sakura-chan in the bathhouse, sure her body wasn't much but he still thought she was kind of cute, he knew that her boobies were not there yet, especially compared to those of the women he's been peep… spying on, but she has room to grow… literally, speaking of Sakura-chan she would not go alone, he didn't knew why, but he was sure that Ino would be with her, yea, the Yamanaka girl would be there too, and she certainly had an advantage in terms of… development over Sakura-chan, Naruto cannot call himself an expert, but he was sure that his fellow blond will grow to be better… proportionate than the pink-haired kunoichi from his team.

Hey since the two were together they would probably call Hinata as well, like a party, right? To celebrate they all graduated the same year or something. But he couldn't quite imagine Hinata there, out of the three she was the one that concealed her appearance the most, he honestly had no idea how much she had… developed.

But she would definitely be there, it's a celebration right? They would be washing each other's backs… maybe even playing in the water…

0x0x0

Unlike his apprentice, Jiraya had no difficulties finding his travelling companion, he could spot the blond from a kilometer away, and getting close to him wasn't difficult either.

The blond was distracted… very distracted, he could see the blonde's face and his expression was something else, he was looking at the sky instead of the bathhouse, he was smiling and his mouth was slightly open… the expression was without a doubt, one of a boy thinking of girls… naked girls.

He was proud of the boy, prouder than ever in fact.

Prouder than when the boy summoned Gamabunta.

What he felt when the boy mastered the rasengan was shame compared to how proud of the blonde he was at the moment…

He almost regretted throwing the kid to the bathhouse in the middle of a horde of future angry women while yelling pervert… almost.

But it was for his own good.

0x0x0

'Ooohhh shit'

That was the first thing on Naruto's mind after being thrown into the bathhouse, he landed in a very precarious way and he was lucky to not have anything broken from the fall alone.

His arms and legs were sore after absorbing the full force of the unexpected fall, but that was not what concerned him right now, no, what he perceived as imminent threat was the half a dozen naked and very angry women surrounding him.

But the worst part was that one of them was holding his notepad reading his notes.

Surely it was purely coincidental that she angriest of the women in the place…

"GET THE LITTLE PERVERT!"

0x0x0

From his vantage point Jiraya was watching the as Naruto once again was running for his life, or trying too, he was too slow to react, and the women where all getting closer to him ready to catch him, and without any doubt, they would be teaching him a lesson.

Jiraya would be lying if he said that what he saw didn't surprised him a little.

The blonde boy managed to escape rather easily in a burst of speed, what surprised him though, was not the escape, no… it was his speed or more specifically, the fact that he could not feel any chakra spike from the boy, he hammered that point into the blonde's mind, a good spy does everything on his power to avoid using chakra to remain undetected, if possible, even escape must be done without any chakra even if it is to further delay the enemies' response or alerting any possible sensor type in the vicinity.

Sure he was no sensor type, but there is no S-class shinobi in the world without some way to pick small chakra spikes, and he was S-class, meaning that the boy was that fast without the help of his chakra.

That kind of speed is possible to develop relying on athletic ability alone, in fact, there are many shinobi that can go way faster than the what the boy was currently capable of right now, but that kind of natural speed, even if short lived cannot be overlooked.

Speed is lethal.

The S-class shinobi he has met are all unique, with different styles, jutsus and tactics, however, there that one thing they all have: Reflexes.

Not all S-class are fast enough to disappear in the blink of an eye, but all of them can react to such speeds with, faster than lighting reflexes.

Reflexes are also the mark of a good defense, with the only exception he could think of being the jinchuriki of the Ichibi in Suna whose sand reacts automatically to any threat.

Exceptions aside, reflexes are a must for every shinobi, they make the difference between life and dead in the world, that's one of the reasons why the sharingan was so feared during the warring clan's era, its natural ability to predict the enemies moves gave the Uchiha clan a way to simulate faster reflexes.

But a large enough gap between speed and reflexes will always nullify the defending side efforts.

What good does you to see an attack coming if you cannot move fast enough to dodge it?

That's what one of his students, Minato, thought.

Minato focused heavily on his speed, he was fast, he could deliver a rasengan on the back of his enemies' neck from twenty meters away relaying on his speed alone.

That was before he finished the Flying Thunder God jutsu…

Among the S-class shinobi alive today, Ai, the current Raikage, was the one he wanted to fight the less, he would do everything possible to avoid entering conflict with such beast, Sarutobi-sensei knew just how dangerous Ai is, and acted accordingly to avoid conflict with Kumo when they tried to kidnap that little Hyuga girl, as much as it pained him to admit it, sacrificing Hyuga Hizashi was better than fighting a war with an enemy they wouldn't defeat.

Speed is lethal.

It may be worth a shot to see how much the blond would react to some good old speed training.

Jiraya took out his trusty old map and checked their location, they were only a day away from River country, that place has the perfect geography for a variety of trainings, yes, they would go there next and spend a few weeks and see how Naruto's body reacts to this kind of training.

Watching Naruto turn yet another corner gaining distance from his pursuers he smiled, it was time to hide. Let's see how long does it take him to find him on the library, after all, he would need something for the genin to read in the weeks they will spend on the wilderness of River country.

0x0x0

Naruto was hiding on an alley, making sure he was not followed, before taking to the roofs again, he had to get to the hotel and change into his yukata, get something to cover his hair and then look for the old pervert.

'Damn you Jiraya' he though, at first he didn't knew what happened, but it didn't took him long to deduce that it was his master whom threw him into the bathhouse.

He will find Jiraya as it was expected of him after stealth training, and he was going to beat the shit out of him… but then he remembered that Jiraya was a sannin.

A legendary shinobi, and the last time he tried to fight him, he ended up as his personal slave, and this is going to last three years?

He had to find a way to get even with the old pervert, but physical violence was out of question, he would have to outsmart him, or find some kind of weakness… on his spare time.

You know, when he was not being his slave, keeping his word for three years will most likely the hardest thing he has ever done in his life.

Watching to the streets he spotted one of the women looking for him, he immediately laid on his stomach to get out of her line of sight, he crawled to the edge of the roof watching the woman walk away, he quickly jumped to the next roof and laid on his stomach again.

He was three blocks away from the hotel, maybe he could make a dash and get there without being found.

0x0x0

Once in their shared room, Naruto changed into his yukata, it was different enough from his usual clothing to throw off any pursuers, but he still remembered that red-headed ramen chef, his blond hair was rare in this city, and he was kind of famous now… so the women were looking for blond hair as well, he could just use henge, but that would be using his chakra, he knew that in a civilian town like this where the guards seemed to be all just a civilian militia force he most likely would not be found, but that is not the point, he was training, he liked to pretend that this place was some enemy fortress filled with hostile shinobi, and shinobi would see right thru his henge.

Looking around the room he looked for anything that could hide his hair. In a small table in the room there was a vase and underneath it, a simple white cloth, large enough to cover his hair, perfect. He went into the bathroom and checked himself on the mirror, his yellow hair was almost totally covered and he now looked different enough to pass for another person.

He would still have to be careful, but now at least he could look out for Jiraya without people chasing him.

0x0x0

Cautiously walking on the streets the blond kept an eye out for his master while avoiding any angry looking female, it wouldn't be the first time Jiraya was just walking on the streets with a costume.

He did his usual round around the bars, brothels and restaurants, looking at every costumer and every employee in those places, in the brothels he lied about looking for his gramps and asking some patrons if they didn't saw someone with the description of Jiraya, he thought of asking the girls too, but he was too ashamed to ask them directly, it was embarrassing enough to ask "Have you seen an old man, tall white hair around here today?" and every time he asked, he was glad to receive a "No" or a "Get lost kid".

A couple of times he received a "Yes" and was pointed to a room in the place, he would go and stand near the closed door and hear all kind of strange noises, sure the moans from the girls were nice, but the voices of the old men he could hear mixed in were just disturbing, and what make it worse was that the old man in the room was never Jiraya.

Although, thinking about it, if Jiraya did go out of the room it would be the worst possible scenario!

Yea, that would be just too much.

By the time he finished his round he must have consumed at least two hours without finding the pervert, he really needed to get better at this, but he didn't really have any idea to find his sensei faster, he would have to ask him again.

Sighting he decided to go check the rest of public buildings in town, maybe he would get some luck this time.

0x0x0

Jiraya sat for the last four hours on the same table on the library, he using his time to work on refining some of his notes and adapting them to fit into the story of his current literary project, it was still on development stage so at the moment he only have a bunch of separated erotic scenes, the plot of the story was undecided, it was always what took him the longest to write, as it was the frame book.

He was having trouble getting inspiration lately without doing the research himself, but sacrifices must be made in hopes of a brighter future, and if the face of his student today was anything to go by, the future was bright.

Speaking of his student, today he was taking his time finding him, he had the time to buy the books he needed in a bookstore and the come here to work on his own project, going by his own estimations the boy should have found him by now, and he was getting worried, while he doubted that the Akatsuki were actively looking out for them, they could always run into them.

And the kid was definitely not ready for them.

With a sigh of relief he watched as the boy entered the building using his yukata and a cloth on his head, approvingly he nodded watched as Naruto scanned everyone present spotting him, smiling he raised his hand to confirm it was him.

The blonde walked towards him and took a sit in the chair in front of him, it was easy to tell he was tired just looking at his face, oh and he was angry too.

"Why did you had to throw in there ero-sennin!?" he asked, but he didn't raised his voice to attract attention from the people around them.

"Because you were so distracted to even notice me in front of you Naruto" he responded "It was a nice fantasy at least?" he asked, maybe he could integrate it into his story if it was good enough.

"What are you talking about, I was not fantasizing!" this time some of the patrons there turned around and looked at the teenager, his face reddening probably from both, the memory of the fantasy and the fact that he made an outburst in the library, luckily for him, the library was a good place to have fantasies, many of the patrons did fantasize on the books they read, it was not uncommon, so the people just smiled and went back to their books, and the people that not, just looked up to the watch in the library noticing how late it was getting and going back home, not one of them was angry at the blond, he was happy for that.

"I see you are unwilling to share, that's fine too" he said with a grin "Those are the things you have the right to keep private anyway" he pointed his index finger at the boy "But you were distracted while training, so tell me kid: What would have happened if I was not your teacher but an enemy shinobi huh?"

Naruto had the decency to look ashamed at that "But you didn't have to throw me in there to make a point dammit!" he was still angry it seems.

"How is that any worse than me throwing you on a cliff kid?" it was not his proudest moment as a teacher, but it should remind the boy that his style of teaching was not the most loving one among the konoha shinobi, he should get used to it, they have barely started with the trip.

"You are the worst ero-sennin" as Naruto said this he rested his head on the back of his chair relaxing a bit, it seems he was getting used to his methods "But could you at least give me some pointers? This is hard and I'm not getting any better at finding you".

"I suppose there is no harm on it, so tell me how have you been doing this?" he asked he was letting the boy come up with his own methods but seeing as he was having little success there is no harm on giving me a tip or two.

"I look around the places I think you could be" Naruto started looking around to see if someone was looking on his direction "you know, restaurants, bars…brothels" he had to smile at how he whispered that last word, clearly ashamed of just saying it "I check them, look at the patrons, the staff, you know all the people on them" he said in his normal tone of voice "I also look for you while on the streets, you know, just in case" at this point the boy was getting frustrated and his voice was a bit louder "but that's it, I look for you until I find you and have no idea what else to do!"

Suppressing a chuckle he smiled at the boy, he extended his hand and messed the boys cloth a bit much to his irritation "You have been doing well then" he said gaining a disapproving look from the teenager.

"What do you mean I been doing well? I can barely find you every day!"

"Look kid, it is not that you are doing it wrong, in fact, you have been doing a great job" he said but it was clear that the blond was not convinced so he continued "Remember when we were looking for Tsunade?" seeing the blond nod he asked "Were did we looked for her?"

"We went to bars, gamble dens and casinos".

"Why?".

"Because you said she liked to drink and gamble".

"Because with the information we had we knew that those were the places she would most likely be in kid" he pointed out "And that's exactly what you have been doing isn't it?" he paused for dramatic effect "There is no magic trick with this kid, even sensor types struggle to find persons if they don't know them, and even they would do what you are doing, use the info available to fond the target, this is more about patience than skill kid".

"So no pointers for me?" he asked lowering his head.

"Sorry kid, but you don't fix what's not broken" he said with a smile "Now cheer up, we will be moving tomorrow, it's time for another kind of training.

That seemed to cheer up the boy.

"Really, what kind of training will it be?".

"You'll see" he said with a smile.

A/N: Well that was it for now, I'm not planning on extending much on Naruto's training, the fic won't be about him training, but I need to write about it to develop the characters in the way I want.

Please Read and Review.


	4. This is Life

It was still early in the morning when they checked out of their hotel room, Naruto was back on his normal clothes except he was still using the white cloth to hide his yellow hair, it was something that he found practical, and he intended to keep until they left the town. No need to cause troubles on their way out.

The phrase "Don't let the door hit your butt" came to his mind.

If he never came back to this place again it would be too soon, but he knew that the women of the city would be happy to know he was leaving, and he couldn't really blame them.

It's not as if he could blame them either, or could do something about it.

They were at the door of the hotel when an employee that looked around Jiraya's age stopped the blonde with a hand on his shoulder.

"Excuse me young man, but I think you are leaving with the property of our establishment" he said while pointing at Naruto's head.

For a second Naruto didn't knew what the man was talking about, then he understood that the man was talking about the cloth on his head, he immediately took it with one hand and offered it to the man.

"Sorry, I kind of forgot I took it" he said with a smile, he intended to take the cloth with him, but he really forgot that he didn't owned said object he wasn't trying to steal it.

"It's no problem young man, just see that it doesn't happen again" replied the man, with what he could clearly see was a fake smile, for he could see what he truly meant on his eyes.

They had truly overstayed their welcome… or probably just Naruto.

He guessed that by now, all the people of the town must have heard of him in some way or another, it didn't help that he was training rather close to the hotel most of the time, it was just a coincidence that the hotel was close to most of the hot springs and bathhouses in the city. Rumors about thieves and troublemakers tend to travel fast on commercial areas, merchants talk among themselves, and share information and surely shinobi doing stealth training and getting caught while doing it, its information worth sharing… great, now he was a pariah here too.

Jiraya had an ear to ear grin on his face, he was sure that his teacher found their whole time here to be entertaining, he probably though it was hilarious to watch as angry women chasing him around the town…

"It was good to have you here Hiraya-san" the employee spoke again, his smile becoming real when facing the old man "I can't really imagine how hard it must be to raise such a troublemaker on your own" that caught Naruto's attention, what has the old pervert been babbling when he was out training?

"He is a good boy Yamada-san, he is just going thru that stage in life" Jiraya said putting his hand on his head, now Naruto was really curious what tale his teacher has been spreading behind his back.

"It's true that all boys have some curiosity about the fairer sex around his age, but I never met a boy as 'curious' as your grandchild" the moment Naruto heard this his eyebrow started to tremble, so that was the old man's game huh?

"I'm sure you are exaggerating Yamada-san". Jiraya seemed to find the situation hilarious if his hand patting him was anything to go by.

"I wish u a good journey Hiraya-san"

"Thank you Yamada-san, I hope to see your business prosper"

Neither Naruto nor Jiraya said anything while they were walking to the west towards River country where they would be training the next few weeks.

"What was that back at the hotel pervy sage?" Naruto was really curious about that whole charade.

"Ah you know, with your 'scandalous' behavior the people of the town had all kinds of complains about you, and after that time we got you your new clothes the townsfolk came to me to complain".

"I think I understand that" said Naruto, if both were trying to pass to civilians it was only logical for them to be related "So what did you tell them?"

"Oh, I just told them that you are at that age" Jiraya said while putting a hand on his head to mess with his hair.

"Age? And they believed you?" Naruto found it strange that the townsfolk would accept such an excuse so easily "What does been thirteen have to do with… this?"

The sage looked at Naruto a bit confused himself "You know, thirteen, age, this is the sort of things a child does when he grows older"

"You mean civilian kids peep on women when they turn thirteen?" that was a surprise for the blond, he really had no idea.

"What…?" Jiraya laughed messing his hair with more energetically this time "It's not only civilians kid, every kid between twelve and fourteen start to notice girls or women, unless they have other tendencies of course…".

The way Jiraya explained this as if he was talking about something obvious was starting to get onto Naruto's nerves, Naruto hated when people talked like that, like he should just know things without anyone explaining it to him, and he would always be too ashamed to ask "How do I know you are not making this up?.

"You don't make up facts of life Naruto".

0x0x0

Jiraya watched amused as Naruto checked the book on his hands.

It took him a while to discover why Naruto just wouldn't accept that people would just condone his actions blaming it as a thing of age.

No one told the blond that it was simply normal, at some point all boys will notice that girls are kami's gift to this world and pursue one of them, or if they are like Jiraya, many of them.

So taking this knowledge in consideration many people would accept that boys around his age would just do stupid things and be more forgiving.

After noticing it, Jiraya also told Naruto about other things that will happen to him, as part of growing up, the blond was incredulous at the beginning so they made a quick stop at a book store to buy a book about it, and Naruto was reading it, checking to see if he was lying to him.

"So you are telling me that hair will grow there?" the teen asked him clearly starting to believe now.

"There in the armpits, maybe even your chest"

"Gross"

"You'll get used to it kid, don't worry"

Truth to be told, Jiraya was angry that no one took the time to explain this things to Naruto, but he was also glad to be the one to do it, it is after all, his duty as Naruto's godfather.

As they left the city, Jiraya felt he accomplished a lot there, but it was time to move on.

0x0x0

River country was the land between Konoha, and there and their allies in Suna, the country itself was more like the land of fire, with a lot of forest and greenery in general.

But it was easy to see where the land of Fire ends and where River country begins.

The trees in the land of fire the giants of the continent, growing taller and wider than in any other place, they were truly amazing.

In River country, unsurprisingly, you could find many rivers.

It was at the shore of one of this rivers that we find the teacher and student duo, Naruto was wearing a plain white yukata made of a very resistant looking fabric, he was inspecting it curiously, he could not say he was pleased, white was just so bland, it lacked life, he decided he did not liked the color white.

"So you are saying that this" he gestured with his hands towards his clothes "will help me get faster?" yea, the blond wasn't convinced.

"It will, if you do this right" Jiraya said sitting in a rock close by, he had all the notes Naruto took while in town, he was trying to think of a way to turn those random descriptions into any kind of scene, but he was having trouble using second hand notes.

"How?" last time they talk about his future speed training it was nothing specific, he was just happy when ero-sennin told him that he thought that he could get a lot faster, they idea using speed as a weapon was very attractive to him, having witnessed Lee's fight in the preliminary rounds of the chunin exams. When ero-sennin told him about the speed training he was just so excited he forgot to ask about the specifics.

"You are going to use chakra to stick your feet to the bottom of this river" Jiraya said pointing at the river "be sure to use chakra only to stay with your feet at the bottom, otherwise it would ruin the exercise, and remember to run against the current"

"That's just weird, why don't use weights like Lee?" Naruto asked, after all, he knew that kind of training worked just by looking at his fellow genin.

"Who is Lee?" Jiraya asked, not really interested, it was probably another genin friend of his student.

"You don't know who Lee is?" Naruto asked not really believing that his master didn't knew the lighting fast green genin.

"Should I know of him?" the sage raised a single eyebrow "Is he famous?".

"Well… no, but he is this really fast guy from the year before me" Naruto explained putting a hand on his chin, and looking up, trying to find the best way to describe his friend.

"So he is just a genin?" the dismissive tone of voice Jiraya used clearly saying that he did not think high of genin in general.

"Hey, I'm a genin too you know?!" the idea of being dismissed based on his rank always annoyed Naruto.

"Yes but you are my student, that makes you different"

The blond was not sure how to react at that, and he wasn't sure how just being Jiraya's student made him any different than Lee "I don't think it works that way" Naruto insisted glaring at the white haired man.

"But it does kid. I'm Jiraya of the Legendary Three, the Gallant Sage of Mount Myoboku and Kami's Gift to Women!" Jiraya said while doing a few kabuki poses for dramatic effect "and I care for no other genin but my student" he said the last part with a proud smile.

"I still don't get it" Naruto asked, he was calmer this time. What Jiraya said made him feel proud for a second, and he liked the way Jiraya cared for him, truth to be told, the old pervert was the person that went out of his way to train him, he always takes him seriously, always have an advice and never ignores his questions. Even if he has a tendency to throw him into dangerous places.

"Alright kid, tell me who this Lee's genin jonin sensei is?"

"Maito Gai" Naruto hoped they would get to the point fast, he was starting to get lost, when they started talking he just wanted to know why they weren't going to use weighs to train…

"Oh… So he is Gai's student"

"Wait so you know Gai-sensei but not Lee?" it didn't made sense to the blond.

"Of course, Gai is an elite jonin with an illustrious career, 'I' must know of him, as a spy master and fellow shinobi of the leaf. But all of his students? Three genin with two year of field experience? Why bother"

There it was, that dismissive tone of his, genin are people too dammit!

"Because Neji and Lee are really good ninja, that's why!"

"Tell me the name of the Gai's third student kid?" it was no question it was an order.

Now if he could remember her name… "She wears her hairs in buns…" Naruto stopped talking when Jiraya suddenly began to laugh "What's so funny ero-sennin?!"

"See, you know this girl personally and you are having troubles remembering her name" pointed out Jiraya "look kid, the point is: Sixty percent of Konoha's shinobi are genin, there are too many of them for a travelling spy-master like me to know them all, Maybe Sarutobi-sensei did knew every shinobi by name, but that is not my job"

"So you are just too lazy to bother remembering the names of genin?" Naruto was getting angrier and angrier.

"It's not like that Naruto, it is just hard to know every face in the village when you travel as much as me, I know all about the jonin in the village, know at least half of the chunin by name, but genin… only a select few, like that Neji kid from Gai's team, he is supposed to be a prodigy of the Hyuga clan, right?"

"So you only really care for geniuses and prodigies like Neji or Sasu…ke" Naruto's anger vanished the moment he mentioned his former teammate.

"I know of them, because they are most likely to become jonin Naruto, and for another reason too. Can you guess it? Acting fast Jiraya asked, he didn't needed the blond to be out of training mood.

"I don't really know why ero-sennin" Naruto's voice was a whisper, he was getting emotional, it was not good for him.

"Because, other villages know about them too, they are targets of priority, you know. If a Kumo shinobi had the chance to kill this Neji kid, they would, just because he is a Hyuga, knowing he will be strong in the future just makes it more tempting for them, kill him before he can cause any troubles. Anonymity is sometimes a genin greatest defense"

Sighting Naruto decided to let it go, he doesn't like it, but he understands it, "Ok… so how is this better than weigh training?" he felt a bit better just t from the start of their conversation.

"Well, if I'm right about you, this should get you fast quicker"

"What do you mean if you are right about me?" Naruto was curious again, but he was getting impatient, he wanted to train…

"If I'm right about you, you have a higher than normal number of flexible and elastic muscles and they developed on their own, this training should increase the numbers of those muscles" Jiraya said while pointing at Naruto's legs.

"Alright! I'll do my best then…" the blond's enthusiasm died mid-sentence when an idea occurred to him "what happens if you are wrong?"

"You have a whole lot of questions today don't you Naruto?" Jiraya was smiling fondly at the blond, much to Naruto's confusion, in his past experience, when the more questions he asked the less answers he would get, so to have the sage answering to his question with a smile was a novelty, a pleasant one "if you don't, you are still doing this training, but we won't take speed training with the same intensity. Now start!"

Naruto entered the river until the water covered everything bellow his neck, just by being standing still on the water he could feel the water pushing him back, his clothes were acting as a sail restricting him, this would be hard physical training… Finally.

He channeled chakra to his feet carefully to not use it in any other part of his body, this alone was challenging, it required a bit more of control than what he thought it would.

He ran, as fast as he could with his body submerged in water, but it was obvious he wouldn't be winning any snail race anytime soon, but he would not stop.

When he reached the fifty meters mark he went back to the start line and start over.

Jiraya watched still sitting on his stone, the kid was putting his all on this training, even if he was wrong, Naruto will be faster after this.

Two weeks, they will be doing this for two weeks that should be enough for the training to produce some results.

0x0x0

While in the wilderness of River country Naruto was expected to manage their camping needs, such as gathering wood, making fires, hunting, fishing and cooking their meals.

Their meals consisted mostly of fish, rabbits and a few wild berries Naruto could find remembering that one book that talked about plants in the land of Fire, even though the tittle of the book talked about one specific country, the same plants could be found on the neighbor countries.

Naruto continued to do his underwater sprints close to the camp, managing to isolate the use of chakra to the soles of his feet without using it for the leg muscles with relative easy, the blond also had some fun trying to catch fish while training, that was definitely not easy, locating the fish without standing on the water was much harder, with his field of vision reduced it become quite the challenge to even spot a fish.

The project to catch a fish running was just a game for the blond, every time he chased one he was reminded he was out of his element and could only watch as his potential meal escaped, but it was still fun for him.

Outside of water, hunting was becoming easier, on the ninth of his training Naruto got a deer running much to Jiraya's surprise.

The blond would be the first to admit that luck played an important part on his catch, since the poor animal inadvertently walked far too close to the blond to be able to escape, be he had still caught them a week worth of meat.

It was on that day that Jiraya decided that he'd seen enough, Naruto was a natural speedster.

The training continued normally for the next week. Jiraya kept a closer eye on the blond after the deer incident, he was surprised at how quickly the training was showing results, two weeks it's the minimum amount of time required for any kind of physical training to pay off for a normal person, of course there are methods to accelerate training like performance enhancing drugs or modifying one's body like his former teammate does, of course, Naruto could not be classified as a normal person to begin with, from what he understands the blond was normal for perhaps one or two hours after his birth.

Jinchuriki are not normal people, they were enhanced by their tenants.

He remembered when he was young, younger than Naruto even, after the first great shinobi war tales about the fearsome Jinchuriki started to circulate the elemental nations, stories about their unique abilities would strike fear on the hearths of everyone who heard of them.

Perhaps, it was the power and ferocity of the first generation of jinchurikis what caused their successors to be so discriminated by the villages they fought so hard to for.

That first generation of jinchuriki consisted of many exemplar shinobis, hardened, trustworthy veterans that did great job of scaring the shit out of every ninja village in the continent.

But the sealing methods of the past caused eight of them to die soon after they become jinchurikis, or at least it was something he theorized about, the seals containing the biju inside the jinchurikis are some of the most complex and advanced things a seal master can create to this day.

He knew from his own sensei that most of the first generation of jinchuriki died after a few battles from chakra poisoning leaving villages in desperate need military power, so all the villages in possession of a Biju hurried up and created a second jinchuriki, this time much the villages unwilling to sacrifice their best a second time opted for younger inexperienced shinobi.

This was the generation that condemned the jinchuriki to fear and prejudice, their seals were probably even worse than those of the first generation, weakened on purpose to allow them easier access to the biju's chakra to compensate for their lack of real skill.

This in turn caused the jinchuriki to become unstable and prone to attack friend and foe alike, they and the following jinchuriki whose seals were tampered with in a trial and error process that ended up painting jinchurikis as very unstable untrustworthy individuals.

The jinchurikis of today are much different to their predecessors with better seals and in general they are very stable individuals, they just happen to carry the stigma of the mistake of previous jinchurikis.

The only exceptions to this were of course, the jinchurikis of the kyubi no kitsune whose seals were made by the Uzumaki clan seal masters, and the biju itself was never used in battle until Naruto, Mito was a very powerful and accomplished kunoichi and the wife of the first Hokage, and as such very well guarded, as far as Jiraya knew, Mito Uzumaki probably never had to head into battle after becoming a jinchuriki.

Kushina, the bloody habanero was born with an unnaturally strong chakra and grew into a fine kunoichi without having to rely on the kyubi and at the same time, her chakra suppressed the biju's chakra no one ever found out she was a jinchuriki.

Naruto was in fact the first know jinchuriki of Konoha, and he carried the stigma created by all previous jinchuriki in the continent; but he also was the jinchuriki with the most advanced jinchuriki seal created to date, he has all the perks and none of the disadvantages of the jinchuriki status, at least while not using his tenants chakra.

Teaching the kid to use the nine tails chakra will be difficult, as it is something no one in Konoha has any experience with.

Naruto's healing factor seemed to accelerate the process of training, not only he can train harder and longer than any normal person, but he also needs less time to recover.

He was not sure how much his healing influenced his training, but it did.

After Naruto completed the two weeks of training Jiraya was ready to introduce his student to a new exercise designed to train his reflexes to allow him to react faster allowing the blond to better utilize his new speed.

He ordered Naruto to make a few clones and collect as much small rocks as they could find.

Once the clones finished their task Jiraya had a big pile of rocks to use, smiling, he used the jutsu Earth Style: Stone Barrier to create a small but thick wall twenty meters away from him and ordered Naruto to stand in front of it.

This was going to be fun.

0x0x0

His teacher was a sadist, he pretty much accepted that.

As Naruto dodged a stone thrown at him by Jiraya.

As the sage explained this was done so he could train his reflexes and improve his response time to complement his speed training.

Jiraya would throw stones at him in burst three to five then he would stop just to throw rocks again randomly.

The first time Naruto was not ready and fell unconscious when Jiraya's rock hit his forehead… Jiraya found that hilarious.

By now the blond also noticed that most of the sages training exercises came up with involved putting him in harm's way, and the sage laughing.

This is how Naruto spends his days training: In the morning he would go fishing or hunting and collecting wood, cook breakfast train on his gama kumite taijutsu in the morning until Jiraya wakes up and gives him a new kata or shows him a new combination and if he is in the mood they would spar, they would have lunch together in the afternoon he would devote himself to his speed training until sunset, when Jiraya would start his reflex exercises until its dark and in the night he would lit the bonfire and Jiraya would lecture him about tactics or just talk about a fight or battle he heard of or he was in.

They have spent a month in the wilderness of River country and moved their camp thrice, Jiraya probably was just being paranoid about the Akatsuki, but Naruto said nothing about it, but each new camp always had a river with faster water, he supposed it also helped his training.

Jiraya decided they would spend the next few months in this place.

And even with rocks flying at his head.

Naruto was enjoying his visit to River country.


	5. Spies

Naruto was in the middle of the forest standing in front of the Stone Wall summoned by Jiraya, he took a step to the left to dodge a stone he bent his knees to avoid a second one that would have hit his noose and rotated his right leg move his body out of the way of a third stone that would have hit his shoulder and then a fourth stone hit his right arm and a fifth one hit the back of his right knee, he never even saw them coming.

"You need to pay more attention kid!" said Jiraya barely loud enough for him to hear.

After a month of what Jiraya affectionately referred as "dodge exercise" the old man started to use shadow clones to strike from unexpected angles.

It Naruto's opinion it was just cruel, it took him three weeks to find one of his master's clones and even knowing where the attacks are coming from did not guaranteed that he would be able to dodge the stones.

But he had to admit it increased the difficulty of the training exponentially to add more than one enemy throwing projectiles at you, and Jiraya always changed his clone's locations to keep making it always a unique experience.

Naruto knew what the objective of this training was, that's why he wasn't yelling at his teacher right now.

"Alright kid, we are done here for today" said the white haired man fifteen meters away from him before disappearing in a cloud of white smoke.

"Damn was he just a clone the whole time?"

Sighting Naruto walked back to their camp, he dreaded the newest part of his training, a two months ago Jiraya started teaching him about poisons and how to prepare a few concoctions and its antidotes, the sannin said he learned the basics from Tsunade back during the second great shinobi war, he never liked poisons but knew there was nothing wrong about using them, it's just that it was not his style but what made him desire to skip this class was that after preparing the poisons Jiraya would stab poisoned senbon needles on his leg to build his tolerance to different poisons.

In the beginning it was just some fairly simple paralysis poison that seemed to have little to no effect on him, something Jiraya attributed to his Jinchuriki status.

But a week after they started Jiraya stopped teaching him how to make poisons and started giving him books to read, right now he was reading a book about the second great shinobi war… written by an historian from Iwa, there were so many things different from the ones he read last week, another book about the second great shinobi war, written by a Konoha historian.

Both books had written different stories on them.

While konoha claimed that they sent assistance to their allies on Taki to prevent a full scale invasion of the country and possible destruction of their hidden village; Iwa's side stated Konoha was deploying their shinobi on Taki's border with the land of Earth in order to take control of a mine with an ore of chakra conductive material close to the border

It was funny that the only thing the books had in common was that both of them called the other village's kage was a power hungry, backstabber crazy with power.

He asked Jiraya which book was telling the truth, the old man told him that probably both were wrong, both villages need to be right.

He arrived at the camp and Jiraya had a small bottle filled with a gray and thick liquid, he coated a senbon with it.

"This one is dangerous kid, it's the active ingredient is lead, it would kill you in five days without the antidote" Jiraya's expression was grim, Naruto was worried as well. He learned, slow acting deadly poisons have a variety of side effects, none of them pleasant.

"Of course, we have the antidote so you don't have to worry about it" reassured the sage while pointing to a bigger withe bottle.

"What else it does?" Naruto did not care for how long that poison would take to kill him, he trusted his sensei to have the antidote, but Jiraya was not above making him experience the side effects until morning if he feels like it.

"It will paralyze you after one or two minutes, it'll produce fever and your sight will probably fail… nothing permanent of course, this poison it's used to restrain rather than kill. It's very important for you to build your tolerance for this one in particular Naruto" Jiraya knew he understands why it is so important, it sounded like the kind of poison that Akatsuki would use against jinchurikis.

Naruto got close to the sage and sat down, Jiraya punctured him right above his right knee.

"Sensei… why did you gave me that book from Iwa?" it had been bothering him since the beginning, at first he thought he will find some very obvious lies on that book, but now after reading all of it, he could say that it made sense… almost as much as Konoha's own book.

"Can't you guess it kid?" Jiraya was looking at him, looking for any sing of the poison working on him.

"Not really, at first I thought it was to point out the lies on it…" Naruto paused, he didn't want to say it but he could not tell any obvious lie's apart the ones framing the Hokage "is written in a way that makes you see things their way. It's like we say they wanted to destroy Taki, and they say we wanted their chakra conductive ores…" Naruto explained, he would take Konoha's side in the end of course, but it would have been much simpler to read only one book.

"I would still choose Konoha's version because I know the Third didn't liked war…"

"Good answer kid, it's what every shinobi in Konoha under Sarutobi-sensei's command should have done"

"Call me stupid if you want… But I still don't get it, I only needed Konoha's book" Naruto started to feel the effects of the poison, his body was feeling heavier, but he still felt like he could move.

"I can't give you all the answers Naruto, you will have to figure this one yourself" Jiraya said, looking at the bonfire of their camp.

"I should start cooking our dinner" Naruto said, he did not like it when Jiraya puts him in this kind of problems, he failed to discover the hidden meaning of this test.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Jiraya said after a few seconds when the blond did not immediately started dinner.

Naruto laughed a bit before answering "I can't move"

"Next time I'll give you the poison after dinner" both of them laughed hard at that.

0x0x0

As the stones approached him he started a series of hand seals: Tiger, Boar, Ox, and Snake.

After months of practice Naruto was finally dodging the projectiles, most of the projectiles consistently, even the ones fired from his blind spots, after being constantly exposed to fast flying objects he developed some kind of instinct, he was not really sure how to describe it at first, he would just feel the muscles on the back on his neck tense and it was as if time itself passed slower, he could feel the general direction the stones were coming from.

Feeling confident he tried to attack Jiraya with a stone of his own.

That was when the sage commanded him to start doing the hand seals for the Substitution technique while dodging, as a result Naruto has done the seals hundreds if not thousands of times, and he has done them so many times he felt like he could do them while sleeping.

As Jiraya fired again he contorted his body with his hands on front of his belly doing hand seals: Tiger, Boar, Ox and Snake, five stones missed him but one graced his right shoulder and he knew there was three more coming his way from the same direction, he just could not detect the first one, he started the seals again: Tiger, Boar, Ox and Snake, with his peripheral vision he glimpsed the projectiles, and he knew that they all were going to hit them on his ribs.

Desperate to avoid them Naruto stepped back, but he knew they were all too close and accurate he could deflect one maybe, but the other two he was sure would hit.

Channeling his chakra he started the seals again: Tiger, Boar, Ox and then the three rocks hit him.

He fell to the ground, his hearth beating hard on his chest, ribs aching, but he could only look at his hands, they were still forming the Ox seal, he almost did it, he almost completed the jutsu. He was euphoric, he never realized he could do the seals so fast before, maybe he could actually use the technique in real…

A stone hit his forehead and he fell unconscious.

"That was a close one" Said Jiraya's Shadow Clone, the one whom threw the stones that impacted the blond's ribs.

"He's gotten awfully quick with those seals" agreed the original, who was hiding behind a tree close to the Shadow Clone in front of Naruto "He could have substituted himself twice before he was hit" Jiraya walked in direction of the camp while the clone that knocked the blond out put the Uzumaki over its shoulders.

Reflex training was showing results beyond his expectations, but he wondered, if would Naruto notice there is nothing to substitute himself with next time?

Because there would be a next time, Jiraya would keep his mouth shut about this, he would not speak of it, he won't forbid it, but he won't encourage his student either.

When Naruto tries this again, and notices the lack of objects to substitute with, he will start paying more attention to his surroundings.

When the sage got to the camp he took a scroll out and retrieved two bottles sealed on it, it was the same lead based poison, this would be the last of it, so Naruto didn't needed to be awake for it.

The blond already has a high tolerance to it, it won't paralyze him anymore, but it would still kill him if left untreated, he will give him the antidote in the morning.

For now it was time for him to cook their dinner: deer stew.

0x0x0

"These is useless" Jiraya said to himself holding his notebook, it was almost empty, he has made no progress with the latest book in the Icha Icha series.

Being stuck in the wilderness with his student without any way get any "research" time was hard for him.

But after making Naruto forget the idea of chasing the youngest Uchiha he felt guilty, he made the blond give up on the person he considered his rival.

Rivals are something great to have when you are training, rivals motivate you to go beyond your limits a stick to measure yourself with. Rivals would make people strive to better themselves.

He took that away from Naruto, he felt that more effort on his part was necessary to make up for it.

He looked towards the river his student was running in, chasing a fish again apparently. It amused him to watch him do something as childish as that, but it also made him happy.

His godson was happy.

"I got one ero-sennin!" the blond yelled holding a fish above his head and grinning like a maniac.

He threw a pebble at him knocking him on his back, unconscious letting the fish escape.

Feeling a lot better watching his student float while the current carried him away he jumped to the river to retrieve him.

At least the kid kept things interesting.

0x0x0

The student master duo followed a road that would take them back to the land of Fire, Jiraya donning his usual outfit Naruto was using his plain white and heavy yukata, by now he was used to it far more than his uniform and it fitted him better having outgrown his old apparel, the blond was delighted to notice it was now too small for him.

They stayed in River country for five months, far more than Jiraya anticipated, but one exercise would always lead to another and the land was appropriate for it, their only worries where occasional Suna and Konoha shinobi passing by but never close enough to discover them.

What finally made Jiraya move was an annual meeting with a contact of his in Tanzaku Gai.

0x0x0

After giving Naruto some ryu so he could buy new clothes Jiraya headed towards the rendezvous point.

It was a small bar close to the red district of the city, you could even find a couple of mature women looking for work, they were here possibly displaced here by the competition, their choice of career can be as ruthless as shinobi career.

Here Jiraya was easily dismissed as just another costumer.

He spotted his contact drinking in a table he immediately smiled and took a sit with him.

"Oh but if it isn't Daisuke-san, it's been a while"

"Hiraya-san you are still alive!" both men laughed at the joke, they would drink talk about the past like old friends, and once they both where sure it was safe they would talk about business.

0x0x0

Tanimoto Daisuke was a successful merchant, his caravan has access to all the countries surrounding the land of Fire and now he has business even in Suna thanks to the reformed alliance between the hidden villages.

Of course he does not spy on Suna, civilian information brokers don't live as long as him by spying on the great villages.

But he had some kind of information about all the minor countries, bandit camps and sometimes even the minor villages.

This year he had valuable intel regarding a minor village, it would surely earn him a considerable amount of money and maybe the services of Konoha's shinobis at a discounted rate if he is lucky.

"I'm sorry Hiraya-san, but I have not heard about anything like it"

As it is normal for this encounters, he would meet with "Hiraya", a wandering writer, was the shinobi's cover, the ninja would make a few questions, all of them apparently unrelated, but Daisuke was no fool, he knew those questions had a purpose, he just didn't knew enough to see the bigger picture.

And he was happy with things as they are, he likes breathing thank you very much.

His payment usually depended on how he answered those questions more often than not

"But I have some intel on Taki" Daisuke talked in a dismissive tone, what he has is important and he knows it.

Daisuke it's an academy drop out from Kusa, he was never good enough with taijutsu or chakra manipulation, but he had a grasp of the kind of information shinobi seek.

About eight months ago he visited Taki's hidden village and noticed something very interesting if he must say so himself, he was particularly proud of this piece of information.

"Please do tell" Hiraya's face was calm and showed the exact same interest he always does, next to nothing.

"You see when I was in Taki this year I noticed the health of Lord Shibuki was… not what you would expect for someone as young as he is… he reminded me a lot of his late father" Daisuke knew Taki had a secret weapon hidden inside their village, the fabled hero's water.

As a merchant he has visited Taki more times than he cares to count, he has occasionally spend the night within the village when the Taki Shinobi couldn't kick him out of the village in time, those paranoiac bastards, he didn't knew exactly where the hidden village entrance was, visitors always were blindfolded and disoriented by some kind of genjutsu, he never ever even tried to break it, he was smart enough to don't try too, his most precious secret was that he could mold chakra, not because he knows a lot of ninjutsu, not it is quite the opposite, he could never master the Substitution jutsu nor Henge, his chakra reserves luckily, fitted perfectly with those of an average civilian.

Hero's Water was a publicity stunt Taki pulled to scare off invaders, no one outside Taki knew exactly what it was, but Daisuke though it was some kind of rare potion they produced and he was certain that it shorten the life of those who use it, Taki's last resort.

"I think he used the Hero's Water"

0x0x0

It was late at night when Jiraya exited the bar, having spent all afternoon "catching up" with his contact.

The only piece of information with any value was Taki's invasion.

Taki was a valued "ally" of Konoha, they had a long history together, it was better to check on them and see if everything was alright.

"Yo ero-sennin!" he immediately recognized the voice of his student.

Naruto dropped from a roof wearing a pair of new black shinobi sandals, brown shinobi pants, a light green shirt and a black cloth over his hair.

"Had a productive day I see" Said Jiraya noticing Naruto's new outfit, it was practical, he would give him that.

"Not as productive as yours I guess" Jiraya did not react outwardly but he knew what the blond meant "Anything you could share?"

Since he decided to check on Taki he could explain the situation a bit "One of Konoha's ally was attacked earlier this year, we are going to check on them, we leave tomorrow"

0x0x0

"So are you going to tell me where are we going pervy sage?" Naruto asked as they ran thru the forest of the land of Fire.

They have been running for close to thirty minutes and Naruto was curious, this stuff seemed important enough to make Jiraya hurry.

"About eight months ago our ally Taki was invaded…" Jiraya explained but was interrupted by Naruto.

"Oh, you mean Suien's coup attempt?" Naruto couldn't avoid grinning at Jiraya's surprise

"Did you knew that?" Jiraya asked in a disbelieving tone of voice.

"I was there ero-sennin" His master's face was priceless.

Jiraya stopped in the limb of a tree and Naruto stopped in a limb close by "I think you have some explaining to do kid, so start talking"

Naruto comprehending how serious this was to Jiraya described that mission as best as he could "My team was escorting Shibuki back to Taki, we were supposed to leave after arriving at a certain location…"

0x0x0

After hearing Naruto's story Jiraya did not felt more at easy.

The sage could not care less about the loss of the Hero's Water.

As much as some of the minor villages fear it, it poses no threat to the five great villages.

Weakened as it is Taki it's a time bomb waiting to explode on the face of the continent.

A/N:

Shortest chapter to date, but it just felt so right to end the chapter here I couldn't resist to end it there.


	6. Taki

They traveled at normal speed for a shinobi, they have been on the move for two days now.

The day before they entered the land of waterfalls.

The country was mountainous and with lots of water, there are rivers here too, bigger and faster than in River country, but it just did not have as many as the other nation

But the waterfalls these rivers created were beautiful, and the waters flowed so fast on them, it was tempting just enter the water and train in there for a while.

As they advance into the territory of their allies Naruto recognizes the landmarks, soon they will be close to the entrance to Taki, it will be just a few minutes before they arrive to the secret entrance to the village.

"This is strange" Jiraya has been preoccupied ever since he talked with his contact in Tanzaku Gai, he knew that Taki was allied to Konoha but in his opinion the sannin was taking things too far.

Taki is very well hidden, and the shinobi that inhabited it guarded that secret zealously even from close allies, so even without the Hero's Water they were not in immediate danger.

"To be so close to Taki without encountering a patrol" that caught the blond's attention, last time his team was practically at Taki's door and they never found or noticed a patrol… but back then he was not the most alert person, he could have missed them easily.

"They could be hiding" it was logic, they could be observing them, making sure they were Konoha shinobi as their headbands announced, only his really, Jiraya never wears the symbol of the village openly.

That was another thing, it has been months since he last used the headband he is so proud of, It was the first order Jiraya gave him, one or two hours away from Konoha, they were not on the active roster of the village and they needed to keep a low profile.

The headband felt alien after so long without wearing it, but he was sure he will get used to it after a few more hours.

"They could not hide from me kid"

Ha! His master liked to remind him how far apart their skills are whenever he has the chance.

"Sure thing Ero-sennin" The blond's words carried a condescending tone that spoke more than the words themselves, it was not because he believed the Taki shinobi could successfully hide from his master, but because he wanted rile up him.

"Hold it not a step further, you are getting close to Taki!" it took him a second to find the source of the voice, it was aTaki shinobi around thirty years old, probably a jonin and had a younger companion, probably on his twenty's.

"Close? In a couple of minutes we would be knocking your doors" Jiraya's sarcastic voice made it clear that they knew were the entrance was and it surprised both local shinobis making their hands go to their kunai holders and equipment bags, ready to attack, Naruto himself tensed and got ready to fight back in case they attacked, the only calm person was Jiraya.

"Identify yourselves!" the jonin's voice was tense and threatening, it promised violence if the answer was not to his liking.

"I am Jiraya of the Legendary Three and this is my apprentice Uzumaki Naruto" Jiraya was cold and menacing, it was a side that Naruto did not knew of his master sure Jiraya would brag about his status as a sannin all the time to him and in the village, but this was the first time he was using it to intimidate.

The jonin eyed them carefully checking them with critical eyes, probably trying see if his master matched the description of Jiraya he had, the second shinobi got close to the older man and spoke whispering on his ear and after a few more seconds the jonin seemed convinced that they were whom they claimed to be.

"My apologies Master Jiraya, we were not warned you were coming" the jonin attitude changed completely once he was convinced that Jiraya was indeed Jiraya, it was almost submissive, this was new to Naruto.

"It's fine, we came in a hurry" as Jiraya reassured the Taki jonin he started walking again and Naruto followed him the younger Taki nin took off in direction to the entrance.

"Hayato will inform Lord Shibuki of your presence Master Jiraya, I'll have to ask you to be patient" Naruto was not imagining things here, the Taki shinobi was talking to Jiraya as all the ninja in konoha talked to the Hokage.

Was it out of fear?

Naruto had no doubts of the outcome of a fight between Jiraya and the Taki jonin, but it made no sense, they are allies.

Sure they came here uninvited and without warning, but it was just the two of them, there had to be another reason for the local jonin behavior.

Naruto and Jiraya just stood there awaiting for the jonin's partner to come back in complete silence, it was bothering the blond but he knew that speaking right now would be a mistake, Jiraya was acting strange and he wanted an explanation, the situation was just weird.

After what could have been fifteen minutes Hayato finally returned.

"Lord Shibuki will be happy to see you and your apprentice Master Jiraya" the Taki nin informed and started walking towards the secret entrance, the master and student duo followed him.

He remembered the way to Taki perfectly, but they were not following it, he could tell this was a different path than the one he used last time, this time, they were following a rock tunnel instead of the underwater passage Shibuki showed him and Sasuke.

It was a longer path too, he remember it took a short dive in the water to get into the village, he didn't know if Jiraya was aware of this.

It took them a few minutes but they finally arrived to the village, it was just as Naruto remembered it, small two story houses close the a lake with clear waters and a big tree on the middle of it, there another bigger buildings on the village as well but nothing as massive as the hokage tower or Konoha's academy could be seen inside, further away from the lake there were a few shops and that was as far as he could see without exploring the village properly.

When they arrived to the biggest better kept building he noticed another jonin guarding its door, but once they were close he stepped to the side and opened the door for them.

He had a feeling that this was the Taki's equivalent of the Hokage tower, they were guided to the stairs by Hayato and soon they were in an office in front of Shibuki, there were also see two young kunoichi, probably one or two years older than him at most.

"I see Hisei taught you well Shibuki" Jiraya spoke while smiling at the young village leader who was now standing with a smile of his own, Shibuki looked the same as the last time he saw him, but there was something different about him, this was not the person he remembered when he left Taki that one time after Suien's failed coup.

Shibuki was more confident it was easy to notice that, but he was also tense.

"You flatter me Master Jiraya, welcome back to Taki, this are Naoko and Akane, they will be happy to show young Naruto around our village, he didn't had time to explore it on his last visit"

Naruto was taken off balance by Shibuki, last time after helping to defeat Suien Shibuki was kind and grateful to him, but this time he was being careful and almost respectful, a bit too much respectful…

"We will be pleased to show Naruto-san around Lord Shibuki" one of the two kunoichi spoke, she had short black hair green eyes and pretty smile.

The two kunoichi walked to him and each took an arm and began and pulled encouraging him to follow them.

"I'm Naoko" the second kunoichi introduced herself, she too had black hair but she kept it in two short fluffy looking pigtails, and green eyes, they were probably related "And she is Akane. Is there anything in particular you want to see first Naruto-san" it felt weird to him being treated so respectfully, this was nothing like in Konoha.

"Is there any ramen place in Taki?" he had ramen back in Tanzaku Gai, but after months of deprivation he was feeling that he had to have as much ramen as possible when an opportunity presents itself.

0x0x0

"This is an unexpected pleasure Master Jiraya"

The sage knew that the young village leader was nervous, he was doing a good job hiding it, but he was fooling him.

"I must apologize for coming unannounced" Jiraya said with a calm reassuring voice, he did not wanted any misunderstandings "But I was recently informed about certain events happening here in Taki, and I wanted to see if everything was alright myself"

"Oh you must be referring to the incident with Suien" Shibuki said as if understanding why he was here and taking a more relaxed posture on his chair.

"We sent a written report to the late Third Hokage about it" That much Jiraya could trust to be true, but what he has seen ever since entering the country was very concerning "Perhaps young Naruto made it appear more spectacular than it really was to make you rush to confirm our situation" it hardly did.

Yes, given Naruto's personality people that only know him in the passing would think he is prone brag about his exploits greatly exaggerating them.

But Naruto was the twelve year old boy who summoned Gamabunta, battled the Ichibi no Sukaku and survived two fights with Orochimaru, the blond simply does not need to exaggerate to brag, if Naruto said that he and Sasuke fought Suien and Naruto delivered the final blow, Jiraya believed.

"Yes, Naruto's stories are always full of unbelievable events and I'm sure he will entertain your kunoichis with a few of them if they do their job right"

In fact the two young and well developed kunoichis were just another confirmation telling him that what Naruto told him was most likely truth.

It was a rookie mistake from Shibuki's part, he should have the kunoichis arrive later and have them fake some mission report to then send them distract Naruto, but Shibuki was young and lacks experience.

The evidence was speaking against him, Taki is weak.

From the lack of patrols in the borders the one two man team patrolling the secret entrance and the lone guard at this building.

Maybe Taki is in an all-time low in its strength.

"He is a good boy, I was surprised when Hayato told me the name of your apprentice"

Yet another mistake, he should have talk about the report he sent to Sarutobi-sensei instead, that would have been believable, talking about the thirteen year old blond he was trying to keep away from the meeting was a stupid move.

"Indeed, he is a good apprentice as well, he is growing well" He agreed "But the Suien incident is not why I am here" it was time to be blunt.

0x0x0

Twenty ramen bowls were the perfect lunch, and the best part is that Taki was paying for him.

Naoko and Akane were looking at him from their seats, Naoko at his right and Akane at his left, astonished. That was the usual reaction people he met on ramen places usually had.

"You… sure love ramen Naruto-san" Akane said trying to break the silence.

"Yeah, I love ramen" and camping in the wild at a time does not help it. When he have ramen in front of him just makes him want to gorge on it even more.

"Soooo, is there anything you want to do right now?" Naoko asked the girl with short hair while getting a bit closer to Naruto.

"Would you like to see the great tree" Naoko said moving her chair close to the blond.

"Or would you like to see the Lake" Akane was now grabbing his left arm.

"Or would you like to see the Hat Store" Naoko grabbed Naruto's right arm.

"Or would you like to 'train' with us" Akane whispered on the blonds ear while pressing his arm with her breasts.

0x0x0

Naoko and her cousin Akane were kunoichis of Taki, both were pretty.

They were used to have boys around their age trying to get their attention, and asking for dates.

As ninja however, their skills were just average for their age, they were not fast or slow, not brilliant but not dumb either.

They were present when Suien attacked the village but they were easily defeated but the invaders, at that point they pretended to be civilians to escape death, not because they fear death, the were merely waiting for an opportunity to attack.

They knew the boy they were assigned to distract was probably stronger than most shinobi in Taki, the blond was formidable before, now he was the apprentice of a legendary shinobi and certainly more skilled than when his team beat Suien.

They were surprised when they were assigned to entertain the blond as a mission. It wouldn't be their first time on this kind of mission but their memories from previous missions were not pleasant. It was on a mission like that when they lost their virginities, in the same bed… to the same man.

As unpleasant as that memory was, they were still loyal to Taki afterwards.

And they would do anything to keep such dangerous shinobi in check.

It was just their luck that the boy misinterpreted what Akane meant with "training" and took those words in a literal way.

0x0x0

The young village leader was not taking the news well.

Jiraya was not sure how or when, but sometime after its foundation Taki become a vassal to Konoha, a non-official branch of Konoha's military.

Very few shinobi in both villages were aware of this. In Taki only the leader and certain key members of the council and their trusted elite jonin knew of this. Before Suien attack Shibuki visited Konoha to swear Taki's loyalty to Konoha again.

Konoha was more liberal with this information, but they still kept it a secret, only the Hokage and a trusted few know of this.

Taki's main job was that of sentries watching over Iwa, and with so few shinobi they were in no position to perform this task.

However this was not what caused Shibuki's distress, Jiraya just informed him of the Akatsuki's existence.

Nine S-class Shinobi with an unknown goal that would soon start targeting the jinchurikis, Taki's leader was intelligent enough to realize that this could end his village.

Taki has among its shinobi the jinchuriki of the Nanabi no Kabutomashi and they will be a target for the mysterious organization. And they won't be able to protect themselves.

"Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame are confirmed members?" Shibuki asked softly not entirely believing it to be true.

"I had an encounter with them a while back" Jiraya confirmed, this was no speculation, this was confirmed.

"I'll have to inform the council of this" Jiraya approved, this was big news, and it's repercussions too big, the young man needed advice.

"If you don't mind Shibuki, I'd like to stay in the village to be informed of your next actions" this would only put more pressure on Taki, but he needs to make sure actions are taken to ensure the safety of the jinchuriki.

"Of course Master Jiraya, I'll see that you and young Naruto are comfortable while in Taki, perhaps you would like a visit to the Hat Store later"

0x0x0

Naruto was following the two kunoichis they were going to the training grounds of the village with a smile on his face.

Sure it was silly but he was used to constant training for the past six months and he was feeling restless without doing some kind of physical training done in the day.

He was aware of how he wasted an opportunity to gain firsthand knowledge on the bodies of his temporal companions. Jiraya's lessons included lectures about kunoichis and the daring roles they would take for the good of their villages.

As tempting as it was he did not want to take advantage of the situation because if he did, the kunoichis would be reduced from people to just tools.

It still hurt a little to remember Haku and his attitude towards life, he did not want the pretty kunoichis showing him their village to use their bodies like that, especially if it was on his hands to avoid it.

Soon they left the civilian part of the village behind and could see the training area in the distance "Let's race to it!"

Running ahead of them and turning around he could see Naoko and Akane really smile for the first time.

He got to the training ground much faster than his guides, he would be lying if he said he was not disappointed, he was not running particular fast or trying to show off, it is not as if he was trying to leave them behind, they were simply going slow, taking great care to maintain a graceful appearance, they were still trying to seduce him.

'No matter, it is just their mission' the blond thought.

He examined the place, it was a big open space behind the great tree, it was surrounded by trees and a stream that could be used for water style jutsu dispersed on it there were some big logs and a few straw dummies.

There was another person there too, another kunoichi, she had a slender body and caramel skin, with a mop of mint green hair, she was using a white top that showed her midriff and a skirt and bellow them a mesh shirt and shorts, a pair of white arm warmers and her headband on her right arm, she was training with a straw dummy doing some taijutsu combinations.

"Hello!" he greeted rather energetically.

0x0x0

Fu was having a good time using the training grounds lately, with the village's shinobi spread so thin there was less of them around to glare at her and she could spend more time using the village tools to better herself.

Right now she was hitting a straw dummy practicing some basic taijutsu combinations, working on them so her body can memorize them.

"Hello!" she heard a voice, it was friendly and energetic, at first she thought it was someone greeting someone else.

Much to her surprise a shinobi was walking in her direction with a hand raised and a friendly smile he approached her, the first thing she noticed was his shining Konoha forehead protector.

Smiling bitterly she realizing that only a foreigner ignorant of her situation would treat her like this.

The Konoha shinobi was probably thirteen or fourteen years old wearing black shinobi sandals, brown shinobi pants, a light green shirt and a black cloth over his blond hair but the most unique feature of this person was definitely the three whisker like marks on his cheeks.

"Hello" she responded, not sure how to react this was new to her.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki from Konoha" the blond was closer to her now he was holding his headband as if to confirm his identity, they name was familiar. Was the blond someone important?

"I'm Fu" she felt a bit silly with her own short name, but could not help it, she has no intention to use her family name, to her, they didn't exist.

"Would you mind if we share this training ground?"

"We?" she could not see anyone else but the konoha ninja here.

"Man they are slow!" she could perceive he was frustrated with whoever was with him.

Two familiar kunoichis soon entered the training area and in just a moment they recognized each other.

To Fu, Naoko and Akane were just two silly girls playing to be kunoichis for they had no talent for the combat side of the career, but beyond that they were also part of the village population that would go out of their way to avoid her, and if they had to cross paths they would always whisper about the demon of the village one they thought she couldn't listen.

To Naoko and Akane Fu was bad news, they were supposed to entertain the VIP not expose him to the village's demon container!

"You are with them?" Fu asked, rising an eyebrow looking to the blond not really believing he would be really training.

"Yes, is there something wrong?"

"I thought they would know better than to 'entertain' you here" disgusted Fu walked towards the village "yes, I do care, I don't want to be here when you guys start to 'train'" she would not stand and watch.

"Wait it is not like that!" it took the blond a couple of seconds to react, she could see that he understood perfectly what she meant.

"I'm not sure I believe you, they are not known for their training ethics" she said loud enough for the other kunoichis to hear, it was not often that she could reverse the roles with their tormentors.

"That's not very nice of you" the blond defended his guides, sure he knew what they were trying to do but he did not understood why Fu was being so offensive towards Naoko and Akane, it was not like they have an option, surely Fu knows that if Shibuki gives them this kind of mission nothing was stopping him to give her a similar mission… and she would have to obey.

"Please don't mind her Naruto-san, I'm sure she was leaving anyway" Akane was furious, how could the jinchuriki dare to treat them like this just for doing this service to the village?

"Yes please! Forget about her and focus on your training!"

"Fu!" the green haired kunoichi stopped hearing Naruto call her name, she looked at him waiting for him to say what he wanted to say so she could leave "I would like you to become part of my entourage" he said with a smile.

How could he dare to insinuate she was like those sluts!

"I don't want to!"

She could see Akane and Naoko smiling, the blond was making her feel so mad.

"You don't have an option" Naruto said seriously.

"I don't care who your father is!" Fu was pointing her finger at the foreigner enraged "This is not Konoha and you cannot give orders here!"

Naruto gave the green haired Kunoichi a smile full of confidence and arrogance before speaking "Why don't you go to Shibuki and check by yourself?" the blond knew he was taking a risk here, but he was also having a lot of fun, he knew that probably Jiraya was still with Shibuki but he didn't knew if the village leader would accept it "Go and comeback I'll be training here while I wait"

Fu left the training ground in a burst of speed, anger and fear.

Shibuki was the only person in the village that treated her like a human being… 'Would he allow this?'

0x0x0

Fu knew better than to ignore what the blond from Konoha said, he was obviously related to someone important, she knew she heard his name before too, its just that she was unable to remember where.

When she arrived to Shibuki's office building she recognized the chunin standing in front of the door his name was Sakaki he was usually kind to her but this time he was being unusually alert.

"I need to see Lord Shibuki, Sakaki-san"

The guard acknowledge her but did not move "Sorry Lord Shibuki it's busy he cannot see you at the moment" his voice was far more aggressive than what she was used to from him.

This didn't looked good for her.

"Listen!" she needed to at least tell him of the situation she was into, that way at least if she made some foreign lord mad she would be protected "It's about this guy from Konoha, Uzumaki Naruto" after saying the blond name Sakaki's expression changed it now showed concern.

"Is everything ok with Young Naruto!?"

His reaction to that name and the way he spoke of the blond was bad news for her

"He is ok, look I really need to go inside please!" it was embarrassing, she did not want to explain why she needed to speak to Taki's leader.

"Just… be polite in there… please"

She was entered the building and walked towards Shibuki's office and knocked the door gently whoever was inside was important.

"Enter" it was Shibuki's voice, and he did not sounded pleased, opening the door she could see there was only one old man inside with her leader.

She recognized him immediately, he was Jiraya of the Legendary Three, and the man looked like an older version of the picture of the academy textbooks.

"Something the matter Fu?" Shibuki was cold, colder than he ever was with her.

"It's about a mission request Lord Shibuki" she explained as calmly as she could "One Uzumaki Naruto wants me to join his entourage"

The room fell silent for a second Shibuki's eyes looked on the direction of the Sannin who merely nodded while smiling in an approving fashion and her heart sank.

"If that's all you may go to him now"


	7. Games and Fun

Without another word she bowed to Shibuki and quietly left the office.

Walking downstairs she didn't knew what to think now, Shibuki did not thought twice to sell her body to that Uzumaki Naruto, the only person she trusted had just betrayed her.

Sasaki-san opened the door for her and immediately noticed her lost expression, she watched him struggled trying to find the right words to tell her but he gave up and let her pass.

Feeling betrayed she still did as she was ordered, she would go to this Naruto and become part of his entourage hoping that the guy seriously was just going to train, her virginity was on the line here.

0x0x0

Naruto ran a few laps around the training area just to warm up, he was eyeing the stream its slow flowing water would be nice to some underwater sprints, but he knew that that training method should not be revealed so willingly, even to allies.

He truly didn't knew if Fu would be back or not so he was intending on doing something productive with his time.

Working on increasing his speed was a big No while inside another village and he doubted Akane and Naoko could throw projectiles fast enough for a reflex exercise done, it was not likely that they would have enough shuriken and kunai for it either practicing a few combinations of the gama kumite was not out of questions, but he preferred not to do more than the most basic moves while being watched by foreign ninja. He had a few kunai and shuriken so he could train in accuracy, it is not his favorite ninja art but he could hardy work on anything else while they were on Taki.

The kunoichis were sitting on one of the logs watching him do his laps, clearly not intending to join him, in that moment he understood what Fu meant when she said that they were not known for their ethics. Speaking of Fu he could see her by the edge of the training field.

Smiling he turned to Naoko and Akane "Can you girls do me a favor?" they smiled apparently happy to see him finally paying them attention.

"Sure thing Naruto-san, just say the word" Naoko's smile was enticing, it made his body react in a way completely new to him, but he understood that his body was getting ready to engage in the reproductive act, and that response was triggered only by her smile, she knew what she was doing he would admit that.

"I need you to collect some stones for me, small enough to throw like shuriken" but he was still in control of himself, as tempting as they are he knows that he is nothing but a mission to them, he would respect their specialized skills, but he won't succumb to them.

He almost laughed at their confused expressions, he was sure that Fu was going to join his entourage 'funny word' he though, he could honestly remember where he learned it but he was happy to use it.

He hoped that the green haired kunoichi would prove herself a better training partner than the specialized counterparts.

"I'm afraid I don't understand Naruto-san"

"They are for training a little training exercise want to try" he explained the kunoichis looked at each other before shrugging and running into the forest.

0x0x0

She was entering the training grounds for the second time this day but unlike the first time, she was not happy to be there.

She had a little of hope when she saw the blond training from outside, sure it was just some running, she could hardly call that much a warm up but she knew some other shinobis would say it was a full training session.

He was walking towards her to meet her, she looked around looking for Naoko and Akane but could not find them, it was just the two of them in the place, and she blushed at that thought.

"Good you are here!" he said with the same energy he greeted her the first time almost an hour ago, but his smile was nothing like it was before.

"I'm here as ordered by Lord Shibuki" she said not letting a single emotion show on her voice and her face in a trained neutral expression that betrayed no emotion.

"You are not doing a good job, you could learn a thing or two from the others"

She would not let him rile her up, she would remain in control, and hope he really wanted to just train.

"Where are the others?" she asked, she was not supposed to be here alone with him, part of her hopes rested on the more experienced girls getting all of his attention after all.

"I sent them home…" his smile became predatory, his eyes wandering around her body with obvious hunger "I thought you would appreciate the privacy" his voice was terse and soft and he was closing the distance between them slowly

That was enough to break her composure, she blushed heavily and turned her head around to avoid the blond noticing, she didn't wanted to show such a weakness but she had no experience with this affairs.

He was now standing inside her personal space without a care in the world he walked in a small circle around her, she could still feel his eyes on her, she was half expecting him to touch her, but he didn't.

Once he was in front of her again she finally composed herself and gave him a glare in a last attempt to push him away but it did not stop him, his face was so close to hers that she could smell the faint scent of ramen he probably had for lunch. He took a deep breath and then…

He laughed!

Softly at first, when she looked at him he had a hand on his mouth, he must have found something funny on her face because he stopped trying to hide it and began laughing openly and he was getting louder with every passing second.

"Kami the look on your face!" Fu was furious, this boy had just played a prank on her, a very small part of her was glad that she was not going to be raped, a tiny part of her was disappointed that she was not going to lose her virginity.

These two parts of her were crushed by the part of her that wanted to claim righteous retribution.

She tried to slap him, tried being the key word, the blond dodged it and kept laughing, a second try was met with the same amount of success.

Her anger fueled by her failed strikes made her fingers itch, she so wanted to use Water Style: Water Sword Jutsu and shove it up his ass, only her professionalism as a kunoichi kept her hands from forming the jutsu.

Everything on her field of vision started to acquire a red tint, she tried her best not to just give in to the influence of her tenant.

"Naruto-san you are such a nasty boy!" her anger reached new heights when the slutty kunoichis approached them, the shinobi from konoha was finally trying to calm his laughter, but he was failing miserably.

Her seemingly infinite anger was replaced with shock, Akane just pushed the blond's pants down exposing his blue boxers with small, green, cute toads and two very strong looking legs before the surprised Uzumaki could react Naoko pushed him from the back making him fall face first into the training field's grass, Akane quickly pulled his pants a bit more pulling them off the blond's legs.

They stole his pants!

"Hey that's not funny give them back!"

Shock was replaced with an unstoppable impulse to laugh.

Akane ran away and Naruto was running behind her trying to recover his dignity. Akane launched the blonds 'dignity' towards her and she instantly became the new target of the pant-less shinobi, she did what every respectable kunoichi would do.

She caught Naruto's 'dignity' and ran away looking for an opportunity to pass her cargo to Naoko.

0x0x0

There are few things that really bothered Akane and Naoko, among them, it were the few immature men who thought that because they once did a seduction mission they were just village approved prostitutes.

So when they saw the way Naruto tricked the demon container they snapped.

Even if the girl herself made fun of them earlier they would forgive her because many kunoichis considered that performing a seduction mission was showing absolute loyalty to the village and Fu was there to fulfil this duty.

For seduction missions could be resumed in getting the target to rape you and pretend to like it.

Prejudice was forgotten and on its place came the desire to protect a fellow female and the need of retribution.

And if they read their target well enough, they will be laughing the consequences later.

In an unspoken understanding they walked towards the VIP.

0x0x0

The blond slipped on the grass and fell to the ground while trying to catch his pants, he was no longer ashamed of running around on his underwear in a public training ground, he could just guess he ran out of shame after the first hour and genuinely started to have fun.

This was the kind of chase game he was never allowed to participate in when he was younger.

Standing up fast he ran after Fu who was now carrying his pants close to her chest he ran while laughing and getting close to the green haired kunoichi.

Fu was the fastest kunoichi present and he needed to put a lot more effort on catching her but it was also much more rewarding because he would pretend he did not notice when she passed his pants to either Naoko or Akane and just tackle her.

About fifteen minutes ago he discovered what the kunoichi's breasts felt like accidentally and he could honestly say he was getting addicted to it, he would discreet but would never lose a chance, and he would try to always block the other receptor leaving Fu free to catch.

The sky was getting dark but he just did not mind.

Running around in Taki without his pants was one of the most fun experiences he's ever had.

It was fortunate that his boxers were big enough to hide his half erected genitalia.

0x0x0

When Fu entered the training grounds she never imagined she would be laughing by the time the sky was dark.

What started as a horrible prank on her was now the longest game of chase she's ever participated on, she was sure that it has been about four hours since they began, Naoko and Akane were out of breath and barely moving, their roles reduced to catching her passes and passing the pants back to her.

She has been running for the last four hours resting only when her partners allowed her time to breathe.

She trains hard every day and her status as a jinchuriki granted her a great deal of extra stamina so she could still go until her collapsed.

Her partners, that though drew another smile on his face, she did not know why the other kunoichis decided to help her after Naruto pretended he was going to have his way with her, but she was so glad they did. Not only for all the fun she had with the game they started, but because they made her feel protected.

As Naruto tackled her yet again she smiled and showed her empty hands, she had tricked him again. He was smiling too, he used his hands to push off and go for Naoko.

He was running just as fast as four hours ago… that was some serious stamina.

He was running alone all the time, he never rested like Akane and Naoko, he did not pause like her, he just runs.

'And he travels with Jiraya of the Legendary Three' for once Fu did not get up to catch a pass she just stayed in the grass thinking.

'He is probably one of those prodigies that are born in every generation in Konoha' she though looking at the black sky, imagining the faces of deadly shinobi that never fail appear in the Hidden Leaf, Namikaze Minato, Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Itachi and probably Uzumaki Naruto was next?

He was famous in Taki, even if she doesn't remember why, He travels with a sannin, and the legendary shinobi pampered him with two kunoichi to entertain him.

Frowning she realized that she was wrong, the blond had the audacity to demand for a third kunoichi.

And here she was, at his orders while he remains Taki 'How does it feel? To be born in the other side of the coin, to have all the talent in the world, and be pampered because of it' she thought with envy 'To not have to work hard just to earn a little respect' she looked at the blond, he was finally putting his pants on, both Naoko and Akane where in the process of standing up, without her they could not match the prodigy from Konoha any longer.

'Would that be Taki without me?' she found she did liked the idea even if other than Shibuki his bodyguard Sakaki-san and now probably Akane and Naoko everyone else pretended she does not exist or would just plain fear her for the biju inside of her.

Taki's Shinobi aren't exactly praised for their strength, they all do their best, but spending so much time making sure the village reminds hidden denies them the time to train, and they are so few now.

'I'll be the village sword and shield and I will protect it, even if just a few appreciate me for it, those few will make it worth it 'Iwa, Suna, Kumo, Kiri even if our allies in Konoha betray us, I will beat you all!' she felt confident at the moment.

"I think it's time to check on Master Jiraya" Naoko said looking at the sky she looked almost sad that the play time was over.

"Yes, we should take Naruto-san back to his master" Akane agreed with her partner "Master Jiraya must be wondering where you are" she said while pointing at the blond.

With a sight the blond agreed, it seemed that he would not mind staying away from his master a little bit more, but even someone like him must do things he doesn't like once in a while.

"You and Akane can go home now. Fu is enough to take me back"

When the blond said this he managed to surprise Fu 'Why is not just going with the pretty ones?' she thought 'I'm just the girl he picked up to torment'

Fu noticed that she was not the only one surprised, after exchanging a quick look with Naoko, Akane said "What's the matter Naruto-san, are you afraid Naoko and me will steal your pants again?" as the two of them started arguing Naoko got closer to Fu.

"Fu-chan!" she whispered with urgency getting closer to her ear she said barely loud enough for her to hear making the green haired kunoichi smile when she noticed the added suffix "Do you know any anti-conceptive jutsu?"

Fu of course blushed at that "Why are you asking that now?!"

"Naruto-san might try something with you again!" Naoko reminded her of how the game started.

"Why it's always me?!" Fu whispered in panic.

"You are his type or something" Naoko explained.

"How do you even know that!?" Fu asked wanted her to be wrong.

"Why do think he tackled you all the time hn?" Fu paled at the insinuating words of her fellow kunoichi but could not deny them "Look, we won't be there to help this time!" Naoko's calm turned into urgency as she looked at Akane and Naruto, it seemed that Naruto was losing interest on her, they didn't have much time.

"Alright! Please teach me?!" Fu didn't really wanted to learn it, but it seemed like a good idea right now.

"Dog, Monkey, Dog and Boar" Naoko said while showing Fu the seals "Send Your Chakra bellow your belly button, if you do it right you should feel something like two fingers touching each other around here" Naoko showed the area where she would be feeling the effects of the Jutsu.

"Dog, Monkey, Dog, Boar" Fu made the hand seals and directed her chakra to her belly button and she felt a tight sensation in a place she never felt before "I think I got it" Fu whispered.

"Good luck Fu-chan" both of them looked ad Akane and Naruto.

"…Because ill become Hokage one day!" neither Naoko nor Fu knew what lead the blond to say that but it made all three kunoichi freeze.

"That makes your pants even more valuable Lord Naruto…" Akane looked towards Fu and Naoko smiling "We will get those pants right girls!"

"Yeah!" they both said at once.

After a couple of seconds Naruto started laughing and it was a contagious laughter.

A few moments later everyone present was laughing

0x0x0

"It's been a while since I had this much fun!" Naruto spoke as he followed the green haired kunoichi, he had his hands behind his head and was doing his absolute best to not look at her.

Naruto said nothing more waiting for the kunoichi to say something, she must have something to say after an afternoon of fun and games and while they were not friends he considered that they should at least be acquaintances after that.

When the kunoichi kept silent he looked at her, she was looking at the ground a few steps ahead of her and her face was stern.

She must have noticed he was staring because she looked away to hide her face from him.

He stopped walking and looked around, the village was mostly dark and there were no people around, not civilians or shinobis could be see and that got him worried.

"It sure it's dark" He commented with his best smile trying to break the ice.

In response Fu started walking faster.

This annoyed the blond, he had enough of people ignoring him back in Konoha, and in his home village he at least knew why some people do it.

And then Naruto had an epiphany. He hated not knowing why people ignored him more than being ignored "Stop!" he said in a clear and commanding voice, it was not was he was intended.

Fu froze in mid step and slowly turned her head around to face him before speaking "Can at we least not do it the middle of the road" she said, her voice was soft and desperate, and it confused him.

"Do what exactly? I thought we were going to find the old… man!" he forced himself to not call Jiraiya old pervert. His master wanted to stop him from using his nicknames, but only managed to convince him to stop in front of other people.

"You mean you are not going to…" Fu's face turned crimson red and her mouth stopped making sounds he could decipher.

"Excuse me, what did you said in the end, I couldn't understand you" Naruto's annoyance with the kunoichi was only increasing and it reflected on her voice.

Fu breathed slowly and looking away she said "Never mind let's go!" she could not bring herself to say it, and it appeared that the blond did not had intentions of having… intimacy with her so she decided not to speak about it again and deliver the boy to Jiraiya as fast as possible.

That wouldn't do for Naruto, he wanted to know what she was hiding "We are not moving until you tell me what we were not going to do in the middle of the road" he said quoting the Kunoichi.

He almost missed it but she said it, she didn't said it loud enough to be sure.

"I couldn't hear you" the blond crossed his arms in front of his chest and gave Fu a challenging look.

"SEX!" she actually yelled it this time.

Fu didn't knew what possessed her to yell it, it was just that she was so stressed thinking he may try something and then she was frustrated when he was so adamant on making her say it that she simply exploded.

The blond surprise was evident.

As evident as it was on Fu's face.

The doors and windows on the houses nearby opened looking for the person that just yelled.

Both teenagers disappeared in a burst of speed.

0x0x0

They were in a small park close to the great tree the place was better illuminated and it was far enough from where she yelled.

She had a mortified expression on her red face while the blond just laughed his ass off.

It was not funny, she glared at him to make him stop.

"You are such a bold kunoichi Fu-chan!" once again she could not confront him, the embarrassment was too much.

"What was I supposed to think then!?" She asked without waiting for him to respond "A suspicious guy tells me to stop in a dark road after he spent all the afternoon trying to touch me!"

That seemed to affect the blond and it was now him who was unable to face her.

"I though you didn't noticed" he tensed and closed his eyes as if waiting.

In truth she didn't, it was Naoko whom alerted her of this fact.

"So you understand why I was nervous about it?"

He opened one eye as if he was afraid of what he would see.

"How would you feel if you had to walk a pervert home huh?" she found she enjoyed the blond's reactions a bit, it was like when she saw a kid being scolded by his mother, and in her mind to see a local celebrity like that was just hilarious.

"I'm not a pervert!" he tried to defend himself

"Oh yeah? Let's check what a pervert is?" She asked him

"Someone who writes porn?" Naruto said with one eye closed.

It was an awfully fast answer too, like he didn't even needed to think to make the connection, it was almost automatic to him, but it was not the full answer so she extended her hand and started "Someone that touches a woman at every given opportunity" she lifter her index finger "Someone who spent four hours running without pants" she lifted her middle finger "Someone who invites a girl into his 'Entourage'" she lifted thumb "that's three out of four, and I don't know if you write porn or not!" she enjoyed each time the blond flinched when she got him.

The blond did not respond immediately and looked extremely conflicted with himself

"Let's get you to Master Jiraiya" she said with a sight, she just wanted the day to end.

"I'm sorry" Naruto apologized sincerely.

"I'm sure you are" she replied not really believing him.

"Look, I never done anything like that before" he was a bit more confident this time and he was trying to make eye contact with her "the first time was an accident I swear!"

"And all the other times?!"

"It just felt nice" the blond admitted with a guilty look.

"Pervert"

"I'm not usually like that, honest" Naruto said while raising his hands in a placating manner.

"Let's go already!" Fu said starting to walk towards the barracks.

"Wait"

"Why do you care so much!?" Fu almost exploded again.

"I don't have many friends back in Konoha" the blond responded, he had his hand on the back of his head and was looking to the grass of the park "So if I meet a person that I like I usually try to become friends with that person, but this time I just… I don't know I just screwed it up!"

"Yeah, you screwed up" Fu could relate to that but she was not entirely believing the blond.

"Let me make it up to you".

Yet again Fu was experiencing something new, never before someone cared what Fu thought of them, and it felt nice.

"How would you do that?"

"What would you like?"

"How about a book?" reading was one of the few hobbies the female jinchuriki had, one of the few things that let her escape the glares and the whispers, she did not care for genre for she enjoyed the all.

"I… don't have many non-educative books and the ones I have are basically…"

"Sorry I didn't heard that last word"

Smiling the blond yelled "PORN!"

Again people on the nearby buildings started to look out for the one who yelled.

And again the two teenagers disappeared in a burst of speed.

0x0x0

"Pervert" this time when Naruto heard the voice it lacked the distaste from previous times "And don't deny it Naruto-san, that's four out of four" she was smiling like she was earlier that day.

"It is not, I did not wrote them" he half joked, but if his memory was right, it was about writing porn, not reading it, not that he read those books anyways, they would just be easy to ask for one from his sensei.

"What difference does it makes Naruto-san?" there she was again, she knew she had him cornered on this.

"There must be one" she shook her head 'doesn't matter I guess'. "I won't deny it IF you call me just Naruto, never liked formalities"

"Ok, so ill forgive you if you bring me a book tomorrow… Naruto"

"Even if it's… you know" he asked just to be sure, she shook her head again.

"Even if there is some sex on it if the story is good it won't matter" she said.

"We have a deal then?" Naruto asked offering Fu a hand shake to seal the deal.

"Deal!"

0x0x0

Shibuki was alone in his office, he was probably the last person on the building.

He should be at his home, but he needed to think, and he tended to be more focused on his office.

But he honestly could not see any possible way for Taki to defend its jinchuriki from this Akatsuki organization, their unknown location would be at risk.

And that was their primary defense strategy.

Tomorrow the council will meet and decide the fate of Taki and the fate of Fu.

And he knew he couldn't save both.

 **READ AND REVIEW**


	8. Unlucky seven

The barracks in Taki was a building composed of several two rooms apartments, they were not luxurious, but they were functional, they all have a stove, a freezer a stove and a small table.

When Naruto entered the room he will share with Jiraiya he found his master sitting by the small table enjoying a bottle of sake while working on his notes, there was also an empty bowl of rice and the bones of a fish in a plate.

"Hey… old man" he greeted, struggling not to call his teacher by one of his usual nicknames, Jiraiya looked at him and nodded "Is there any food left?" Jiraiya smiled and pointed to the stove where he found a pot and a frying pan.

He checked the food and noticed it was cold already so he lit the stove to heat his dinner.

"Had fun today?" His teacher asked as if he was just trying to break the silence.

"Lots" the blond said with a smile, last time he had this much fun was probably when he taught Konohamaru the Sexy Jutsu, it was probably more than a year ago.

"I was surprised" the white haired man commented pausing to drink some of his sake "when you asked for that other kunoichi to 'join your entourage'" Naruto could see now that his teacher was grinning at him.

"Fu?" he asked nonchantly, knowing that if Jiraiya wanted a more drastic reaction, when the sannin nodded again he explained "I met her on the training grounds and she was mean to Naoko and Akane, thought of teaching her a lesson"

Seeing the look of understanding and a smile on Jiraiya he knew his teacher knew why he asked for the kunoichi's company.

"Still, spending the afternoon with three foreign kunoichis is not laughing matter" His teacher was not one to take kunoichis lightly.

In one of his lectures he told him that a shinobi has to be more cautious around a kunoichi than any other time for not only a kunoichi could be just as deadly in combat as their male counterparts, but they could also kill you while you thought you're safe in a lovers embrace, he told him stories of old times when more than one dangerous shinobi was found dead in the morning after spending the night with a woman.

The fact that Jiraiya whom survived two great shinobi wars thought that the most dangerous jutsu was the Stab Your Enemy When They Sleep spoke louder than any rant Iruka sensei had at the academy.

This time it was Naruto who just nodded to convey his answer, he understands.

"It was still a good time to train"

"I thought it would be a bad idea to show any specific routine you showed me" Naruto was taken off guard, he thought he was being smart not training today.

"So you are telling me you wasted three instructors?" Jiraiya sounded amused

"Instructors?"

"Maybe that Fu girl was not a specialist, but I could see that the first two were trained for the art" his master said with a lecherous smile "You should have played along and see what a kunoichi trying to seduce you is like… to be safe I mean"

"Yeah… sure" The blond did not believed a word his sensei just said.

"I'm serious kid, do you think no one will tried to seduce Sarutobi-sensei?"

"The Old man?" Naruto asked he could not see the old man resisting a beautiful young kunoichi after he fell for his Sexy Jutsu.

"Yes Naruto him"

"Do you mean there are other villages that knows Konoha's secrets?" that caught Jiraya off guard and Naruto smiled at getting one past his teacher.

"You were his student, you should know how much of a pervert he was" saying this triggered the sannin's laughter.

"Yeah that he was, but I'm sure he never once revealed village secrets in that way" Jiraiya sounded confident enough for Naruto to drop the subject, besides, he respected the old Third too much to insist on it.

"Lady Biwako would have had his balls if he ever did" that was a name the young shinobi did not recognize.

"Who is Lady Biwako?"

"She was sensei's wife of course"

"The Third was married?"

And so the two Konoha shinobi continued to talk about one of the few persons that they shared a connection with, it strength their bond.

0x0x0

Fu was alone in her room in the barracks, while she cooked a quick dinner she listened the conversation between Naruto and his master.

Her connection to the Nanabi no Kabutomushi gave her a limited link to certain species of insects, and thru some experiments with the biju's chakra she managed to raise a colony of small beetles that she kept in a cylindrical back pack.

This beetles could transmit a few images and sounds to her and she had them all over the barracks, in every room she had one.

Normally she doesn't bother listening what her neighbors have to say, but she does so occasionally since sometimes she could learn something useful from them.

But knowing that a legendary shinobi was within her hearing range, she just couldn't resist.

And Jiraiya as a teacher was just like what she imagined from the school text books, a wise man sharing his vast knowledge.

At first she was happy when he scolded Naruto for asking for her company to the village, the she frowned when Jiraiya talked about how dangerous kunoichi are, she knew she must have been missing a few pieces of nonverbal communication but soon she realized that it was a good advice to give to someone as young as the blond.

She got angry when the sannin told his student he wasted three students, but what she heard later made her think that Naruto was probably being groomed for the position of Hokage.

"Do you think no one will tried to seduce Sarutobi-sensei?" that line in specific was the responsible for that line of thought.

She also remembered when the blond shouted back at the training grounds "Because I'll become Hokage someday!"

She smiled at that memory, just at first, what if it really happened?

Could she respect the leader of an allied village whom groped her in her youth?

She quickly let go that thought, they were talking about the Third Hokage now, a man known as The God of the Shinobi and that was something she didn't wanted to miss.

She almost fell to the floor when she heard the Third Hokage was a pervert.

'Maybe with Naruto Konoha will have two perverts for leaders' she shuddered at that thought.

She heard about the Third's wife a woman called Biwako and smiled when Jiraiya commented he feared the woman strong character and temper.

'Even legends are still humans' she thought with a smile.

She heard they would be staying on Taki while Jiraiya waited for at the village's council to make a decision over some matter he wouldn't share with Naruto.

Curiosity invaded her and she decided to send a beetle there too, if they are good enough to spy on Jiraiya they are good enough for the council.

She got distracted and missed part of the dialogue between Konoha nin.

"Her boobies were like soft and firm and they fitted in the palm of my hand…"

She immediately decided she did not wanted to keep listening to what Naruto had to say how her breast felt like.

"It better be a good book" she thought with irritation.

0x0x0

"Ok ero-sennin I told you, now you have to tell me how to scare Kakashi-sensei"

Somehow Jiraiya made Naruto admit that he at least touched one of the kunoichis… assets and had him describe it in exchange for information on something that would scare Kakashi when they go back to the village.

"Oh just show him a red Habanero and he will run calling for his mom!"

Jiraiya was furiously writing on his notebook and the blond wondered how did he got him to admit his moment of weakness in the first place

'Must have been that wart on the left of his nose… the dam thing its hypnotic!"

0x0x0

'Being part of this entourage sucks' thought Fu as she ate a light breakfast.

She did not know when Naruto would want to wake up and go call for her and it was driving her crazy.

She had a nice little routine and the blond was now had her waiting for him, of course Naruto was the client in this situation and she was the kunoichi.

And she didn't even knew all of the mission's specifics.

But considering that allowing him have sex with her was within the parameters of the mission any chance of her maintaining her little routine was gone.

"This mission sucks… quite possibly in a literal way…" that train of thought made her lose her appetite, but she forced herself to finish her meal, she didn't knew when she would need to leave or have another chance to eat.

There was someone knocking on her door and she knew it was not Naruto, her beetle would have alerted her if he left his apartment, it was not a rent day… it never was, she lives in a village funded building for its military personal.

The person knocked again after a few seconds.

She never got any visitors, not even Shibuki came here since he was always busy… she left her dishes on the sink of her small kitchen and walked to her door.

This time the knocking was faster and louder.

"I'll be there in a second" she said loud enough for the person outside to listen to her.

When she opened she saw her partners for the mission, Naoko and Akane.

They looked worried.

"Can we go in?" Akane said whispering.

"Sorry I don't have more chairs" Fu apologized when she noticed there was nowhere to sit.

"Don't worry about it" Naoko waved her hand indicating it didn't mattered that they were all standing "Are you Ok? She asked with worry.

"Yes, I'm fine"

"Did… did something happened yesterday?" it was Akane who spoke, she was anxious.

"Nnn… no" she hesitated, yesterday was such a busy day and so many things happened, she was not sure if she wanted to share the experience of yelling the word sex in a residential area, or the confrontation she had with Naruto about his behavior towards her… or the brat yelling the world porn in a public park… and she definitely would not admit to be bribed with a book… with adults content.

Noticing her hesitation the two Kunoichis shared a look and seemed to get to the same conclusion. The two of them embraced her.

"It's ok, we can tell something happened, just let it out"

With this Fu understood what they were worried about, and the way she was behaving was not very reassuring for them, she pushed them gently so they could both see her and smiled

"It's not what you two think it is, and I'm ok"

"Oi Naoko, I think she liked it!" Akane said while pointing an accusing finger to the green haired jinchuriki.

"Hnnnn, she is smiling a lot that's for sure" Naoko moved her head closer to her, she was invading her personal space making her feel uncomfortable "And we were so worried about her"

"It's not what you two are thinking!" despite trying to control it she could feel a warm sensation on her face and knew her face was slightly red from embarrassment "Nothing happened between Naruto and me, I swear!"

"So you are calling him Naruto now hn?" Akane was the one accusing her now but this time she had a friendly smile as well.

"Let's say we believe that 'that' didn't happen, but something else happened… right?" Naoko started touch her ribcage lightly producing a ticklish sensation "Come on spill it!" now she started tickling her with both hands and not even a second later Akane joined her.

Not being used to physical contact with other people the female jinchuriki was weak to tickles… and she was discovering it.

"I'll talk, I'll talk!" it took approximately one minute for Fu to admit she could not stand the tickles.

"Last night when we were walking thru the civilian residential area Naruto was trying to make some small talk…" she was interrupted by Naoko.

"You mean the one with the broken streetlamps?" Fu glared at the smiling Kunoichi "Didn't knew Naruto-san had a thing for public places"

"He does not!" Fu was blushing again, she had similar thoughts last night, lucky for her she was wrong.

"So where did he took you?" Naoko had a knack for interrupting people apparently.

"He didn't took me anywhere, he just wanted to talk" She glared at Naoko to make sure she could speak without interruptions "I too thought he was going to try something there so I tried to walk faster…" she could feel her cheeks and the bridge of her noose heat up, the next part was embarrassing "… and I think he thought I was ignoring him and him must have not liked it cause he ordered me to stop…" she could see the other girls smile from ear to ear making her blush even more "… and I kind of thought he was going to try something there…" she looked at her small book stand to avoid looking at her fellow kunoichis "… and I told him to at least not do anything there…" Akane and Naoko started laughing at that, yeah, it was not her most brilliant moment "… then he understood what I was saying so we went to the park and there he asked me why I thought he was going to… ask for that" she paused to look at them, they were looking at her expectantly.

"Come on, what happened next?!" Akane urged her to continue.

"I told him he was a pervert aaannd he apologized, said he was sorry, it was the first time he did something like that and wanted to make up for it and now we are fine I guess." She talked as fast as she could to not be interrupted again.

"How did he make it up to you?" Akane asked with a sly smile.

"I told him a book would be ok" Fu admitted, for the first time not finding the answer to be embarrassing.

The specialized kunoichis shared a look again before Naoko spoke for the two of them "Rokie mistake"

"Huh?"

And so her new friends started to share some of their knowledge with her.

0x0x0

"What do you mean I have to retrieve her panties?!"

Naruto never regretted making that damn bet more than this morning.

It had started normally sun rising on the east, birds chirping, making breakfast and kicking Jiraiya until he wakes up.

Apparently he kicked the old pervert way too hard because he just gave him the craziest task he ever thought off: retrieve the panties of Fu.

"I don't think I used any word you can't understand" Jiraiya was holding his ribs while having his morning coffee.

"You know what I mean you old… man!" the blond wanted to go out of Taki just to call the pervert a pervert.

"It will be a good training exercise"

"You just want to get even for waking you up!"

"What if I told you this is an exercise designed by the Third?"

Naruto knew Jiraiya was lying, but he said it in a way that would make you think he was saying the truth 'Don't look at the wart, just look away and you'll be safe'

"You know how to lie sensei, but I'm not buying it!"

"You were not there" Jiraiya said his hand going from his sore ribs to his butt "Sensei made me steal Biwako-san underwear so he could catch me and be the good guy"

Naruto started to believe, he even smiled at the thought of the old man throwing Jiraiya to his future wife to receive the punishment to…

It all made sense now.

The cliff, the angry mobs of women and the rocks…

"So you are telling me that abusing your position as a teacher to punish your student is a long standing tradition in Konoha?" The blond didn't wanted to think only he was victimized by his sensei.

Jiraiya for his part remembered the time he made Minato get Tsunade's bra, and the time Minato had Kakashi and Obito steal Kushina's panties… Kakashi still feared Red Habaneros just by association.

"You could say that it is a long standing tradition between masters and students started by the Third and you should be proud to be part of it!"

"So did the Fourth do this?" it wouldn't be a tradition if he didn't made the Fourth do this.

"Minato? He sure did, his target was Tsunade's…"

"Stop!" the blond interrupted "I don't need that image on my head!" he could see Jiraiya smiling, as if he was thinking of better times.

"And Minato also carried on with the tradition, you know? He set Kakashi and his other student to retrieve some panties from his girl… he caught them too, he was the good guy for her"

This was news to Naruto, was the Fourth's student the same Kakashi he knew?

"You mean Kakashi-sensei was a student of the Fourth?"

"You are missing the point kid, don't go on that tangent" Jiraiya warned him with a smile that told him that he was not going to get out of this weird assignment easily.

But perhaps he could negotiate a new objective.

"Come on sensei, this is not exactly the same, I mean all of the targets before were all konoha kunoichis, you are risking our alliance with Taki over a pity vengeance here"

"That's only if you get caught" the sannin said still smiling but the frowned "Although this may be a bit much at this stage of your training" Jiraiya sighted "Alright. I'll tell you what, it won't have to be her panties, but it must be voluntary given and it can be any piece of clothing" his sensei smiled again and extended his hand "Think of it as a mini seduction mission, do we have a deal?"

Realizing this was the best he was going to get from his master and actually a bit surprised to see his master budge to request of him he decided to accept "Deal!"

0x0x0

"Good morning Naruto-san" it was a chorus of three voices: Fu, Naoko and Akane, the three of them bowed to greet their charge. Fu was using her uniform and the other two kunoichis were using more practical outfits better suited for physical activities like running around and doing some training.

Fu was far more comfortable today than she was yesterday, not only she felt better knowing that the blond was not out to get her but with her temporal team as well, this was the first time she was not kept at an arm length by the other members of the squad.

She had left the village only a handful of times and always accompanied by two jonins, they never talked to her more than for what was strictly necessary. And the last time she left the village Suien, a traitor attacked the village and the villagers acted even more hostile towards her, as if it was her fault the attack happened, it was hypocrisy at its highest.

She was outside on orders from Shibuki escorting an important noble back to the land of Fire when it happened and yet the people of the village thought she should have been there, magically appearing to save the day.

But with Naoko and Akane it was different, she did not know what made the two kunoichis change her mind about her but she was happy for it, they were making this mission one of the best times of her life, for the first time she didn't felt different form her peers and it was a nice feeling.

"Good morning Fu, Akane and Naoko" the blond greeted and bowed for them as well.

Immediately Naoko and Akane pushed her close to the blond and made her grab his arm. She was embarrassed to say the least, but she could not find a fault in their logic.

Uzumaki Naruto was attracted to her, she was his type, he liked her, at least more than he liked either Naoko or Akane.

And as such, she was the best suited to entertain him, and luckily for her, he was, in Naoko and Akane's words: "Too childish and far too obsessed with training to try something that would end with sex"

She was not so sure about the childish part, but from what she learned about the blond so far, it was unlikely for them to end having sex today.

"What would you like to do today Naruto" she spoke hoping that he would say training again, and hoping they really trained today, even if she enjoyed yesterday's game she still has a responsibility with the village to maintain herself fit to fight.

"How about a tour around the village first?" well that was to be expected, he has been here two days and has only seen the training grounds and the barracks, she supposed he wanted to see the sights which was alright with her.

"Let's go to the great tree first Naruto-san" behind her Akane spoke while rising her hand as if to get the blonds attention in a childish way.

"Sounds good enough" replied the blond and they started walking towards the biggest tree in the country and one of her favorite places.

No one noticed the small beetle taking off towards the council chambers.

0x0x0

Naruto was nervous, he had an idea of how to get a piece of Fu's attire but he was not sure if he could do it while the other two kunoichis were present, even if he managed to find an opportunity to talk to Fu privately he had no guarantee his idea would work.

He walked with Fu holding his right arm and that did not make him feel any better, in fact as they walked sometimes the natural motions allowed him to feel her breast on his arm, so he was both nervous and distracted.

Once in the roots of the big tree they called the great tree he proposed a game of tag, it was going to be him trying to catch them of course.

A few minutes into the game and the three kunoichis dispersed onto the limbs of the tree he noticed this would be the perfect opportunity to talk to the green haired kunoichi.

He spend the next several minutes trying to catch the green haired girl and chasing her away from her partners, but it was not something as easy as he thought it would be, Fu was familiar with every limb of the tree and would skilfully avoid him for almost fifteen minutes.

Naoko said while throwing him some sort of fruit he did not recognize, probably some native species they do not export, the weird thing was that it was not on any of the books he read about edible wild berries and fruits in the continent.

Deciding it would be at least less suspicious if he catch at least one of the other two he switched his target to Akane.

0x0x0

Jiraiya waited inside the room provided to him and his apprentice, it was already past midday, and he had a light lunch already, he was working on this notes but inspiration wouldn't come to him.

Instead all he could think about was the jinchuriki of the Nanabi no Kabutomushi, whoever the person is, it's on a great danger.

He knew the person should be young since it was about ten years since Taki requested a jinchuriki seal from him, he did a good job if he must say so himself, but the process of creating a host is not easy and there are a lot of things that could go wrong.

If everything was done correctly the jinchuriki should have an easy way to access the chakra of the Nanabi without getting much interference from the biju itself, the person would appear to be just a normal shinobi until the time to use its tenants chakra was required.

It was not a masterpiece like Naruto's seal, but it was the best he could do.

He cursed himself for it, it would have been so much easier to identify the jinchuriki if he added a few more things to the seal, but his pride as a seal master got in the way, he wanted to create the best seal he could and compare it to Minato's.

He could not speak about it, but he felt his best was still a far cry from the seal that holds the kyubi at bay.

He felt stupid for even trying, and that feeling was now at its all-time high now, Taki would discuss the future of their jinchuriki, inform him about it, and take whatever action they deemed necessary when he was unable to interfere.

They would not survive an attack from the Akatsuki pairs, if they choose to exile the jinchuriki it would its death sentence.

And they will banish the jinchuriki, it was the best way to ensure Taki's survival.

And there was little he could do without putting a bigger target on Konoha's back. While it is true that Taki is Konoha's vassal, this relationship between the villages was a close guarded secret.

The secret was to a form of protection for Taki really, because if Iwa knew of this they would put all of their efforts into erasing the minor village from the maps.

It would be cause a lot of issues for Konoha and its allies, without a doubt its image would suffer a heavy blow and its enemies would speak about how Konoha subjugated Taki.

It would be a political nightmare…

0x0x0

Naruto and his "entourage" had a light lunch consisting of ramen.

In the end Naruto was able to catch two of the three kunoichis, none of them were Fu, he must admit that the green haired girl knew how to move around the great tree and it was night impossible to catch, and she was as tireless as he was, if not for their stomachs reminding them of lunch they would still be there.

At the moment they were on the lake, its water was nice and calm it was a nice place to relax, but he had a task to perform.

It seemed after yesterday the kunoichis switched tactics to keep him entertained and he was more comfortable this way.

Soon after they arrived Akane suggested to do some skating on the lake, and so they did, it was fun just using your chakra to stay afloat getting some speed and then just sliding on the surface of the lake, it was relaxing and fun.

Both Akane and Naoko made figures on the surface and played in a way he never seen before, they just jumped spin and landed in such a graceful way it was hard not to admire.

But it become clear that they could not keep it for long, it was just taxing for them, it was not only a great drain on their stamina but on their chakra as well.

After a while it was only him and Fu on the lake racing from one shore to the other since they were unable to do the same as their companions and it was then that Naruto called Fu to the shore far away from the other two kunoichis.

"Fu, I have something for you" the blond said feeling a bit warm invade his face, it was time to try to retrieve something out of her, panties and bra were out of question but maybe he could get one of her arm covers.

He pulled Icha Icha: Tactics out of his weapon bag and showed it to her, and it was like a switch was turned on and she smiled and ran towards him to take the book out of his hands.

"Is this it?" she asked looking at the book's cover still smiling as if she was a child anxious to play with her new toy.

"It is, just… you know" he was still ashamed of giving a girl a book with adult content "don't get your expectations very high about the book" he warned.

"No, it is fine, it's nice to have something new to read" she clarified still with that same giddy smile on her face.

"This is… embarrassing but I have a deal for you" Naruto avoided looking at her face. This was it, now she will be sure he is a pervert, but it was still part of his training, he had to do this.

"What kind of… deal?" she asked looking at him already suspecting he was up to something, he was sure that after this she would go spreading how much a pervert he is, and Taki would be the second place where he is known to be a pervert, the first hidden village, and knowing Jiraiya it probably won't be the last.

He pulled Icha Icha: Paradise, Icha Icha: Violence and one more book: The Tale of the Utterly Gusty Shinobi, this made her smile even more and she tried to take the books out of his hands but he just moved them away from her shielding them behind his body.

"They are not for free Fu" he said with a smirk, he was not expecting such a reaction, now he felt a bit guilty for this.

"I'll go home and get some ryu and come back!" she said and started running.

Naruto used a burst of speed to appear ten meters in front of Fu to stop her, he needed to clear up things and if she has the money to buy the books it would ruin his plans.

He was hoping to just get in front of her but with his wet sandals and grass made him slip rather comically.

"Are you ok?" Fu asked him while helping him get up.

"Yes I'm fine, thank you" she was about to run off to get the money again but he put a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"There is no need for money her Fu-chan" he said smiling, but he was nervous, and she was suspicious of him again.

"I won't let you touch anything!" she said while covering her breast with her hands.

"It's not about touching" he said calmly tying to reassure her, but it only made her more suspicious.

"I won't show you anything either!" this time her face was red, and he was sure his face was red too.

"It's not about showing either" he said.

"What is it then?"

"I want a trade" he said after thinking this was the best way to go about this.

"Ohh! Well I have a few books I could trade!" she said with a real smile forgetting her suspicious and she looked genially happy.

"I don't want a book, Fu-chan" this was making him really uncomfortable, and he still hasn't told her what he wants to trade, hopefully she won't attack him.

"What do you want then?" there she was being suspicious again, not that he could fault her for it, he was up to something after all.

"I just want your arm cover" there it was, he said it.

"And what will you do with it?" she was more suspicious than ever.

"I just want something so I can remember you, I mean we are friends now aren't we Fu-chan?" he wasn't really planning to do anything in particular with it to begin with so he wasn't exactly lying.

"You won't do anything perverted with it?" she asked again, as if deciding if she believed him or not.

"I promise it, and I never go back on my word!"

That seemed to convince her and she reluctantly took out her left arm cover and handed it to him while taking the books from his hands.

"Do you mind if I go and read them now?" she asked while looking at the four books in her hands, clearly anxious to start.

"It's fine with me" he said really wanting to go back with Jiraiya and show him what he got so he could get this over with.

"Thank you Naruto, you are the best!" she said while running off, but then she stopped and returned to him "Please keep your promise and don't do anything perverted with it" and she ran off to somewhere else.

Deciding it was time to go back to Jiraiya he returned to his room in the barracks to show his master the piece of cloth he got, it was voluntary given, traded, but it was still voluntary.

0x0x0

Fu returned to her apartment in the barracks in record time, she had four new books to read and she couldn't wait to start, but she remembered the council meeting was about to start, so she got her red cylindrical backpack and ran towards her favorite reading spot by the great tree. There she could read and be within range of her beetles transmission abilities.

She hide on a limb of the great tree and started to listen.

0x0x0

The council chambers of Taki were rather humble, it consisted of a big room with a tatami and elegant cushions for comfort.

Close to the wall was Taki's leader: Shibuki.

"Lord Shibuki" greeted an old councilman, he was born before Hisei, Shibuki's father and former leader of Taki, he was the eldest person in the council and highly respected "We assume this assembly is related to the visit of Master Jiraiya from Konoha?" he was also one of the few people who knew about their true bond with the great hidden village.

"Indeed, Master Jiraiya is the carrier of terrible news for Taki" Shibuki learned that the best way to get the council attention was by going straight to the point, otherwise they tended to go on tangents to further their own power or standing within the village.

"As all of you are aware, a few months ago Konoha was attacked by two hidden villages, but what we didn't knew was they suffered a second secret invasion" Shibuki was not saying the truth, but he needed to cover some of the truth for the villages benefit.

"A secret invasion?" another councilman asked, this one was older than Shibuki by more than a decade "which village was the invader?"

"It was not a village esteemed councilman, but a group of mercenaries known as Akatsuki, this mercenaries were Uchiha Itachi and Hoshikagi Kisame" there was silence in the room

"What did the Kin-Slayer and the monster of the Mist wanted in Konoha" asked a councilwoman, it was probably what every member of the council wanted to know.

"They were after Konoha's jinchuriki" with this words the color was drained from the faces of the council members, as far as Shibuki knew, this was not truth, but he needed to make his council understand what Akatsuki was after and how dangerous they are.

"These Akatsuki people are after jinchurikis?" Asked another voice, Shibuki faced a gray haired jonin, he was ordered to abandon his patrols in the north to assist this meeting, he was a trusted advisor and he was in the knowing.

"According to master Jiraiya, yes they are and as we are all aware off, we are in no position to defend our jinchuriki…"

0x0x0

Fu was listening to their every word, nine S-class shinobis after the tailed beast, two of the infiltrated Konoha in search for one… Konoha!

One of the freaking five great hidden villages.

If they were to come for her…

There was no way she could defend herself, they would find her and if they were anything like the two Shibuki mentioned… this would be the end of Taki.

'So this is why Jiraiya of the Legendary Three is here on Taki, to warn us'

"We should just hand her over to them and be done with it!" one of the council members said.

"Just banish the demon, let them chase her far from the village!"

She tried to think of a way to defend her home and her life! She may only like a few people here but this still was her home!

And just recently she started a friendship with Akane and Naoko…

The first two kunoichis around her age to show some concern for her, her first two friends…

But they were so painfully weak… they wouldn't stand a chance if this S-class criminals attacked the village…

And Shibuki… he may be their leader but he was barely a chunin without time to train anymore, he would be one of the first to die…

The kind old lady in the library, she may be blind as a bat, but she never made her leave, it was silly to care for her… but she did.

The sun was setting over the horizon, and she looked over to the great lake, it was such a magnificent sight.

There was no way she could protect the village if she stayed here…

She felt like a hypocrite, just yesterday she was swearing to protect her village from any invader… now she realized that it was impossible for her to do it against such odds, she was simply not strong enough.

She recalled her beetle.

She would take this decision for the council, the best option really was to be far from here when this Akatsuki attacked, that way… only she would die…


	9. Finding Fu

"Stupid Ero-sennin" Naruto whispered to himself he was inside the room in Taki's barracks he shares with Jiraiya.

"Did you said something kid?" asked an annoyed Jiraiya, he was drinking sake from a small cup.

"Nothing sensei" the blond said calmly 'stupid S-class senses!'

Both master and student were mad at each other, Jiraiya because Naruto found a loophole to accomplish his mission and Naruto because as "Reward" for completing his mission the sannin gave him a scroll to begin studying Fuinjutsu: the art of sealing.

The stuff inside the scroll was just plain boring, so many rules and exceptions, and the scroll repeated again and again the importance of drawing each symbol perfectly.

"I thought so" Jiraiya grumbled, it annoyed him to just look at his students face, it was clear that the blond would rather do anything but read the scroll.

He had such high hopes for his student on this shinobi art… the last known Uzumaki it's not interested in Fuinjutsu… his ancestors must be rolling on their tombs!

"Can I at least read outside?" Naruto asked, he would not be doing any reading, he knew it, Jiraiya knew it, but they both could use some space right now. Besides he could study the dam scroll another time when he could actually concentrate.

"Tch, fine go out!" Jiraiya refilled his cup with more sake and pointed to the door.

The blond picked up his scroll and walked to the door 'Maybe I could go to that park yesterday' he thought, it had a nice and calm atmosphere around it, it would be a nice place to clear his head and maybe he could get some study done there.

As he walked on the corridor that connected the various apartments he noticed a door was not closed but thought nothing of it, the shinobi that lives there would probably feel better if no one touched his door.

Once outside he noticed he would have around one more hour of sun light, not enough to study but hopefully Jiraiya would be sleeping when he goes back.

He found a place to sit enjoying the last warm sunlight and tried not to think of his stupid sensei, he only said the item must be voluntary given, he offered a deal and she accepted, it was voluntary.

Jiraiya was just sore because he found another way to accomplish his task without having to do anything perverted or further humiliate himself… too much, it was pretty embarrassing when Fu asked him twice to not do anything perverted with her piece of cloth.

0x0x0

The sky was black and there were no visible stars on it, he was used to look at the night sky and look at the many stars that shined in the wilderness.

Back in Tanzaku Gai he couldn't see any stars either and in Konoha was practically the same, the light pollution made people forget how beautiful the stars could be. It probably didn't helped that he was standing with his back on a streetlight.

It was probably time for him to go back to Jiraiya and see if he was still mad, his master was probably more than a bit drunk if he kept drinking like he was when he left.

Looking at his scroll he sighted and decided it was time to go back and start reading the dam thing.

When he was two blocks away from the barracks he noticed a couple of shinobis jumping from roof to roof in an apparently random pattern, as if they were looking for something, he stopped for a second and watched them go from one place to another stopping just a couple of seconds on each spot.

Shrugging he kept walking towards the barracks, it was probably better to leave Taki business to Taki shinobis. As he walked he noticed the ninja become more frantic on their search until one of them finally spotted him.

In a couple of seconds the shinobi was in front of him looking agitated and angry but he quickly composed himself before speaking to him.

"Young Naruto, I was informed you were the last person to be seen with Fu, do you know where she is?"

"She was going back to her place last time I saw her" he replied in his most professional voice, it was unnatural for him to speak in such a way but he knew it was required in this kind of situations, Jiraiya had warned him than anything less would get you into trouble while in a foreign hidden village.

"I see" the shinobi left before he could make a question of his own.

He felt a pang of worry in his hearth, was the kunoichi ok? What could have happened to her since last time he saw her?

He wanted to help the locals find her but he had no way to help, so he hurried back to his room, with some luck Jiraiya would be sober enough to provide some assistance in this task.

0x0x0

It was a few meters away from the entrance to the building when he saw Akane and Naoko waiting by the door, both of them looking worried, it made him feel more worried seeing the anxious expressions on their faces.

"Naruto-san!" they both said at the same time and they looked at each other as if deciding who should talk first.

"Fu is missing?" he beat them to ask in that timeframe, both of them looked conflicted one was agitating her hands while the other was biting her lower lip.

Now sure that there was something wrong Naruto put a hand on their shoulders to let them know he was waiting for an answer.

"Fu left the village" it was barely a whisper, but he heard it loud and clear.

Akane was looking at Naoko in surprise and Naruto just knew that she should not have told him, it was Taki's business there was no need to involve a foreigner like him on this matter.

But now he knew…

0x0x0

After separating from Fu and their VIP Naoko and Akane agreed to give the two of them some space.

They did their best to keep up with them but Fu and Naruto-san were just to bundles of never-ending energy and they just could not keep up with their games, it was even worse when they had to use their chakra in the lake, they were already tired from their morning on the great tree where they did their best to keep Fu out of reach of Naruto-san.

The blond made it pretty obvious he was going after her specifically and even after what their fellow kunoichi told them, they could not bring themselves to trust the blond, he was a shinobi after all, just as adept at deception as any kunoichi. They wanted to protect Fu from what the blond could do, some nice words a few gestures to gain her trust and a promise would could be enough to strip Fu of her virtue…

And afterwards he would go to Konoha and talk to his friends about that girl on Taki and the things she does if you say the right words…

There was another noble from the land of Fire coming to Taki to visit the Hat Store soon, and he already talked Lord Shibuki about getting them to escort him back home.

They did not want that for Fu.

But the blond could not be denied. Soon after they had to go back to the shore of the lake to rest he separated them from the green haired kunoichi as soon as they could they went looking for them, they looked on the known hot spots for lovers all over Taki looking for them feeling more and more anxious each time they found nothing on each of them.

When they looked on each spot twice they were happy, curious and nervous.

Happy because most likely Fu was not on any public place where she could be seduced.

Curious because Naruto-san and Fu were probably together in some other place and probably just enjoying the sights of Taki.

And nervous because they had yet to check Fu's place, anything could have happened there, so they looked for them in the public places again, the great tree, the lake the Hat Store… they checked everywhere.

And then they checked again, they wanted to waste time really, because if they were at Fu's place they would need time to finish their 'activities'

It was an hour sunset when they finally got the courage to check her place, fearing what they would find in there and sad for failing to protect the jinchuriki. The poor girl had enough without men trying to get on her pants all the time.

Because the Taki people would find out… they found out about them as well.

When they got to the barracks they silently walked to Fu's apartment and found the door only partially closed, it was the worst sign they could think off, the green haired idiot even forgot to close the door…

But when they knocked the door there was no answer, they tried again, and again, but no one came, so they checked inside and they found the apartment to be messier than this morning, fearing the worse they checked her room and much to their relief the bed was still done and there were no signs of any activity there, but there was a note in the pillow directed to Lord Shibuki, it was just a simple paper and on it Fu was telling the leader of the village that she spied on the council… that she knew what they were planning and that she would leave for the good of Taki…

They contacted the chunin in charge of the barracks and handed him the note.

"She left Naoko-chan"

"Do you think she was telling the truth in that note Akane-chan?"

"I don't know"

They were confused and didn't knew how to feel, they had come to care about the jinchuriki in the last couple of days, they found a naïve forgiving soul on the green haired kunoichi and now she was gone, possibly leaving before she was kicked out of the village for reasons they did not know.

They must have been standing at the entrance of the barracks for more than one hour so when they saw the blond walking back to the building they just had to ask, they just probably hide really well while doing their deed, it was their last hope.

"Naruto-san!"

"Fu is missing?" the blond already knew.

He was just staring at them his eyes practically drilling them, he had such a commanding presence right there and he looked so… hurt, like he had been thru this before… like he understood

"Fu left the village" Naoko said it, not even she was sure why, perhaps she was hoping the attraction the blond felt towards Fu would compel him to help… perhaps she just need to tell it to someone who wasn't her cousin Akane… oh and Akane could not believe it, she knew she was probably thinking the same, it's just that she was always too slow to take decisive actions.

Then before either could say something else the blond was gone, he just left running in a burst of speed it was difficult to believe and soon he was out of sight.

"You tell Lord Shibuki about Naruto-san knowing I'll go and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid.

And then Akane was gone as well, Naoko supposed it was fair, she was the one who messed up after all.

0x0x0

Akane ran after the blond, she needed to catch to him and make sure he wouldn't do anything, this was not Konoha, this was Taki, he had to stay quiet and let them work, but he was just so much faster than her, after a full minute following his tracks she still could not find him.

She wondered if the blond even had the means to track the wayward Fu.

'Fu you idiot… making us worry about you' she didn't knew what she thought she was saving Taki from, but she should know that the lord Shibuki would not let anything happen to her. He was such a kind and caring leader.

People might think he is weak for caring but he was always working to make Taki strong again and doing what was necessary for it, she understands that and she trust in him… why can't Fu do the same?

She was running at the lakes shore following the footprints of the blond, then they stopped and there was a couple of strange footprints as well they were like those of a big frog… or a toad.

And then nothing.

0x0x0

The administrative building of Taki had such a dense atmosphere that you could perceive something was wrong the moment you entered, the secretary Imari-san looked at her in a way that invited her to leave and not get involved with what was happening right now.

"I need to speak with lord Shibuki" Naoko forced herself to speak.

"It's not a good time!"

"It's important! It's about Naruto-san!"

Imari-san just bowed her head and looked at her desktop and used both her hands to massage her temples "Go!"

She didn't need to be told twice and she ran to the office of the village leader she knocked the door of his office with urgency, she was so nervous, she spilled the beans to a foreigner, she was in deep troubles if Akane doesn't find him.

Lord Shibuki opened the door almost immediately, and the look of disappointment on his face was unmistakable, he was expecting news on Fu and instead she was bringing him yet another trouble.

"Naoko what are you doing here?" he asked trying to maintain his kind persona but she could see how on the edge he was.

"I… have bad news lord Shibuki" she watched as he grabbed his head in frustration, she felt horrible for letting such a vital information slip off her tongue now, but it felt like the right thing to do at that moment "Uzumaki Naruto learned of Fu's defection"

"Ok, where is he now?" she could see her leader wanted to do some damage control and she had no idea how to tell her that she did not know where he is at the moment.

"I don't know Lord Shibuki, once he learned of the situation he left so fast that neither Akane nor I could stop him… Akane it's tracking him now" Akane was way better than her at tracking, it was her second best skill, she was sure she could find him before he gets lost in the tunnels of the entrance of Taki.

"Uzumaki Naruto knows of the secret entrance in the lake" when her leader told her that, she felt a lump form in her throat, she doesn't know that particular entrance and she grew up in Taki!

It meant that Naruto-san could be anywhere at the moment.

"Go inform Master Jiraiya about this ASAP, I'll go there after dealing with something's here"

She ran back to the barracks.

0x0x0

Akane ran towards the administrative building, she had lost Naruto-san's track he simply vanished in the lake, and that other set of footprints worried her.

Taki didn't had many myths, but even such a small place had its own urban legends, like when parents want their children to listen they would always tell them that Kakuzu would come for them if they don't behave.

The way Naruto-san disappeared today could be the birth a new urban legend in her opinion, it was mysterious and dangerous at the same time… but she had no time to ponder about it she had to inform Lord Shibuki.

Once she was at the buildings doors they opened and Naoko was the person getting out.

"I'm so Fucked!" Naoko whispered but she still heard her.

"I'm sorry I lost Naruto-san's track we must tell lord Shibuki" it was the right thing to do, they would be withholding information if they didn't.

"Not necessary!"

"Naoko we must tell him about this!" true they would be in trouble when Shibuki learns of this, but they would be in even more trouble if they don't say anything.

"Akane, Naruto-san knows the lake tunnels" Naoko whispered calmly but it was a major surprise for her.

"Look I need to go inform Master Jiraiya about this so let's go please!"

"Let's go then"

0x0x0

She was knocking for five minutes straight and there was no answer yet

"Master Jiraiya are you there!" Naoko was getting more and more preoccupied with each minute that passed, lord Shibuki should be here shortly and she must make sure the legendary shinobi know his ward was missing!

This could lead to an international conflict and she was going to be responsible for it!

"Nothing yet?" Naoko turned to see Akane arriving with the spare keys to the apartment.

"Nothing" she confirmed taking the keys from her cousin, facing the door she weighted her options, face the wrath of a legendary shinobi or face the wrath of her village leader…

She choose the former and used the key to gain access to the rooms interior, it only took a moment for her to find a passed out Jiraiya in the table and around a dozen empty bottles of sake making him company.

Today was just not her lucky day.

"We have to wake him up" she said in a whisper.

"Naoko… you won't wake him up by whispering!" Akane yelled at her.

Blushing at her mistake she approached the white haired man and started shaking him up to wake him up

"Master Jiraiya… Master Jiraiya!" the sage started to stir as she shook him so she continued "Master Jiraiya, Naruto-san is missing!" that seemed to do the trick.

"Minato! Where is the kid?!" he yelled not totally sober but at least awake and semi-conscious of the situation.

Akane approached with a cup of water and offered it to the drunk man.

"Master Jiraiya drink this please"

The legendary shinobi seemed more focused but also much more confused he looked around for the younger shinobi from Konoha trying to find him in the room but to no avail.

"Where is Naruto!" he demanded and they didn't knew how to answer.

"Calm down please Master Jiraiya we will explain everything shortly" Naoko said hoping the man would just sit and listen for a minute.

"Start talking then!" for a moment both kunoichis were petrified not only Jiraiya had yelled, he also raised his killer intent, and it was far worse than anything they had previously experienced it was like having a force around them that compacted their lungs until there was no room for oxygen in them… and then it stopped, the legendary shinobi just breathed and the force disappeared and they could breathe once again.

"Talk"

It took her a moment to find her voice again "We believe Naruto-san left Taki in pursuit of… Fu-chan" Naoko was not telling Jiraiya everything but her head was literally on the line here, she was certain she was not allowed to reveal Fu's status as a jinchuriki.

The white haired man kept looking at her expecting to continue, like knowing there was more to it than what she was telling.

"Master Jiraiya" a voice called from the door 'Lord Shibuki is finally here!' Naoko thought as she felt Jiraiya's oppressive eyes leave her to focus on her leader.

"Fu is the jinchuriki of the Nanabi no Kabutomushi and she left the village a couple of hours ago"

0x0x0

"Have you gone insane Shibuki?!" it was the only logical explanation for Jiraiya, how could this end up happening?

"Please calm down Master Jiraiya" pleaded the young village leader without understanding how grave the situation really is "Fu is regretfully much too good at covering her tracks and thankfully too fast for young Naruto to catch, and she can run for much longer than him… once he realizes this he will probably come back to Taki"

Jiraiya laughed bitterly, still a under the effects of sake he looked for the cloth he got from the jinchuriki and couldn't find it "Naruto has her scent!" he grumbled clearing his voice "He is faster than you would believe and he never tires… He. Is. Going To Catch Her!"

'And then he will have to fight a jinchuriki that probably has better control of her biju than he does!'

"I'll go after him" the sage told Shibuki, he has to find his godson before he catches up to her 'This is worse than my worst case scenario!'

"Then please give this to Fu for me when you find them" Jiraiya looked at a closed envelope with the seal of Taki on it and he could guess what it was just by looking at it.

"So you are vanishing her then"

"I'm just making her actions official Master Jiraiya, it was the decision of the council made not one hour ago".

Jiraiya took the envelope and walked to the door ready to chase his godson but Shibuki's voice stopped him.

"What will you do when u catch her Master Jiraiya?" the young leader was concerned about the girl, at least he seemed to care.

"I don't know Shibuki… I don't know"

"Please Master Jiraiya, don't harm her!" the little kunoichi that woke him up pleaded "She is a good girl Master Jiraiya please!" the other kunoichi spoke surprising him, it was not common for jinchurikis to have such loyal friends… even Naruto didn't have many.

"I can't promise anything… specially if she harmed Naruto… but I'll try"

'Even if the wisest thing would be probably kill her and let the biju reform in a few years…'

0x0x0

Gamahana was a toad the size of a small dog and she has an exceptional sense of smell, she took mere seconds to find the scent of Fu once outside Taki, after that it was just a matter of putting her on his head and follow her instructions.

He didn't knew why he was so upset about this… Taki isn't his home, they are allies sure, but they were not his friends.

Maybe it was because this reminded him too much of how Sasuke left Konoha, or Maybe its because he could not picture the energetic girl with nice boobs leaving her home… something was just not right.

"We are getting closer Naruto-kun"

He just nodded and looked at the horizon… the sun was rising at the east.

It was time to face her.

Putting more chakra on his legs he was going now so fast that for a second his vision became a tunnel, he could see her mop of green hair in a clearing close to a river ahead, she was waiting for him…

 **A/N: Hello everyone, I'm leaving you guys with a cliffhanger this time but in the next chapter we will have the confrontation of two jinchurikis Yay!**

 **About Gamahana, I always felt that Naruto never used his summons the right way… if you look at how closely Jiraiya worked with them in cannon it made no sense for Naruto to never use them out of combat, so on this fic Naruto will be using toads for support roles sometimes.**

 **I will also leave you guys with this omake, in reality I wrote it thinking of including it in the actual chapter, you could call it a cut scene from the chapter, it was a funny idea that came to my mind that would have not been right with the serious atmosphere I was trying to give to the chapter.**

OMAKE

Akane ran towards the administrative building, she had lost Naruto-san's track he simply vanished in the lake, and that other set of footprints worried her.

Taki didn't had many myths, but even such a small place had its own urban legends, like when parents want their children to listen they would always tell them that Kakuzu would come for them if they don't behave.

Among teenagers circulated another urban legend, more daring and without a doubt it was invented by some horny shinobi, it was laughable really…

The Animal Spirit of the Hero would kidnap any virgins that got too close to the lake in the night… it was just an urban legend to convince naïve civilian girls to open their legs sooner, it was always considered as a party joke or drunken talk.

'But after today… what if The Animal Spirit of the Hero got Naruto-san?' in Akane's mind that was the only possible explanation and she felt so silly for it…

Once she was at the buildings doors they opened and Naoko was the person getting out.

"I'm so Fucked!" Naoko whispered but she still heard her.

"I'm sorry I lost Naruto-san's track we must tell lord Shibuki" it was the right thing to do, they would be withholding information if they didn't 'I just hope no one laughs when I tell them that The Animal Sprit of the Hero got him'

"Not necessary!"

"Naoko we must tell him about this!" true they would be in trouble when Shibuki learns of this, but they would be in even more trouble if they don't say anything.

"Akane, Naruto-san knows the lake tunnels" Naoko whispered calmly.

'Good thing I never told anyone about my theory…'

"Look I need to go inform Master Jiraiya about this so let's go please!"

End.


	10. Good Intentions

Being a closely guarded national secret has its perks, like knowing about other national secrets.

Fu was one of the few shinobis that knew the exact location of the underwater tunnel in the lake of Taki, for security reasons mostly, it was the fastest way in and out of the village so she knew of it in case she was out and needed go back in a hurry.

It was really ironic that she used it to escape.

The village was a couple of hours away and she was keeping a good pace, at this rate she would be out of reach of any possible pursuers from Taki, but she was not expecting any, Shibuki would just not send anyone to retrieve her from exile, not when she just left before they could make it official.

She knew she was doing what was right for Taki, but she was in so much pain right now, she had no idea what she will do tomorrow… or the day after, all she knew how to do was being a kunoichi.

She could find a small town and try to learn a craft to earn some money but she would never use her chakra again if she wanted to remain occult from the S-class criminals.

She could go to a big city and whore herself and disappear among the population… but that was a destiny worse than death.

She could live in the wild hunting for food and spend all of her time making sure she left no traces to follow, but she would never be able to get her hands on a book again…

What to do indeed…

For now she knew she wanted to be as far as possible form her former home, away from Shibuki, Sasaki-san Imari-san, Naoko and Akane, from the only people that made her feel like a human being when everyone else treated as a monster.

She wanted to run for a day and a night just to be sure she escaped and that her former home was safe.

She was using her beetles with economy as sentries, she left one behind every kilometer or so, she wouldn't be getting them back for they were far too slow to keep up with her escape speed, they would warn her of anyone on her trail, anyone pursuing her would not be from Taki, she was already afraid of the Akatsuki.

The moon doesn't shine tonight and she can barely see where to jump next but she doesn't slow down, she wanted to be far, far away.

She wanted a couple of days of running non-stop, she had already eaten a field ration much to her disgust, the high calorie dehydrated bar left a foul taste on her mouth and the water she drank did little to wash away the horrible flavor.

A beetle five kilometers away warned her of someone following her, at this distance the faint and almost imperceptible chakra signal warned him of her pursuer… could it be that the Akatsuki were already spying her? Was she giving them a golden opportunity to capture her?

She could feel tears building in her eyes, she wanted to at least live a little before they came after her, this was unfair.

But life was never fair for her, she should be used to it by now, she cursed herself for stopping erasing her tracks after being three kilometers away from her village

She stopped and jumped back making sure to land exactly on her footprints, this was a basic maneuver but it was known to work if the ones doing the chase had not enhanced senses, it was not infallible by any means, but at least would buy her some time.

She received another signal… the person after her was gaining terrain fast.

She ran as fast as she could while trying to erase her tracks, she needed to lose her pursuer.

But as time passed she kept receiving signals closer and closer, her footprint trick had failed her already.

All she could do was run.

She received a signal from the last beetle she left behind, stronger and clearer than any other signal this night, and much more detailed.

Her beetles were not the infamous Kikaichu used by the Aburame clan but they shared certain capabilities, like being able to gauge the amount of chakra a person has, and this person had more chakra than her.

'This is not good!'

A moment later another signal came, the same beetle sending it, it recognized the person and it sent her the few physical features it could recognize.

Her pursuer was a certain blond pervert from Konoha, that was unexpected.

Smiling without noticing she looked at the horizon, the sun will soon rise and she was drained, she noticed a clearing close to a river ahead.

Knowing that the blond will eventually catch up to her she stopped on the clearing ate another field ration and refilled supplies of water.

She waited there for him, and soon the blond entered the clearing jumping over her as if blocking her way forward.

He was kneeling and had a toad on the top of his head, he gently took it and put it on the ground before it leaped away in direction of some trees.

There was silence, she could see his face clearly, there was anger and betrayal in his eyes, and she could not understand why, they only knew each other for two days, and it wasn't even two full days, they are from different villages and he was just a playful, kind and blond pervert who asked for her company.

"Good morning Fu-chan"

"Good morning Naruto"

She responded automatically, but she was still on guard for any attack from the blond.

"Why are you here Naruto?"

"I want to talk" that was not the answer she expected, she wouldn't be surprised if he just told her he was here to kill her, for all she knows the council could have made Shibuki brand her as a missing nin.

"There is nothing for us to talk!" she wanted to run and leave him behind, she did not want to hurt him, he never treated her badly or glared at her, but it was just because he doesn't know what she really is and if they talk, he might find out.

"Why did you desert Taki?" he asked, but he was not making fun of her and he wasn't even reproaching it to her, it was like he just wanted to know.

"Why do you care!" she shouted "You are just a foreigner that knows nothing of me or Taki!" she could feel her voice wavering, she breathed to control her emotions.

He looked away breaking eye contact, the blond didn't knew how to respond it seemed.

"Look, whatever you did that made you leave, I can convince the old pervert to put on a word for you and you'll be fine… just go back to Taki"

Naruto doesn't know why she left?

Of course he doesn't, no one in Taki its stupid enough to advertise who is their jinchuriki, that aside what did he expected some old pervert to do for her?

"This isn't something some pampered prodigy like you can understand Naruto!" she warned him, this is beyond his control and it would be the best for both of them if he just allows her to leave.

Naruto laughed a bit, just as she expected from a prodigy like him, to expect that nothing was out of his control, ever since she meet him he was always in control of the situation, always doing whatever he wanted, to have him blocking her path was yet another proof of how different they were.

She was a jinchuriki scorned and banished by her people and he was a talented shinobi under the wings of a legend. No he would never understand.

"So you think I have a stick up my ass eh?"

He was amused and was smiling as he looked at her again his eyes so much harder and unforgiving as if she just insulted him with the word "prodigy"

"What do you mean?" she was genuinely curious, never expecting a reaction like that.

"How many prodigies do you know Fu-chan?" he asked her with nothing but contempt in his voice.

"You are the first" she responded without hesitation, she would not be intimidated by his strange tactics.

"You are the first person ever to call me a Prodigy and I am not one. But I know three of them Fu-chan" he explained much to her disbelief "And all three of them had sticks up their asses" she could see him smile, and she smiled as well now comprehending why the word prodigy would be offensive after meeting three of them sharing the same feature.

"And you say you don't have a stick up your ass? You could have fooled me" she just couldn't resist it, the opportunity was perfect.

"I don't" he replied with a smile. "But you still haven't responded me Fu-chan, why did you left Taki?" he asked again.

"Why do you even care so much? You are from Konoha!" she wasted no more time and just sprinted away from him.

But he was in front of her blocking her way again in just a few second, he had to be the fastest shinobi she's ever met

"You are not leaving, Fu-chan"

"WHY DO YOU CARE!?" she really wanted to avoid fighting him, she did not wanted to hurt him, he was like a… friend.

"If you want to know so much, I'll tell you, but in exchange, you will have to tell me why you are leaving as well… Do we have a deal Fu-chan?"

She just nodded, she would not tell him… of course but she was curious to see if the blond really had a good motive to chase her for so long.

"I'll try to make this short" he said relaxing a bit, but it was not the moment to attack yet "The first prodigy I've met was my teammate Sasuke…"

"And he had a stick up his ass?" she asked unable to resist the need to comment on it, the idea was just too funny.

"The biggest out of the three I know!"

He laughed and she did as well… if she just wasn't being hunted he would be such a nice friend…

"He left" two words, he wasn't kidding when he said he would keep it short, she could see sadness and betrayal on him, she couldn't understand why a prodigy would leave a village as strong as Konoha, the idea was ridiculous, but now she could see why he wanted to know.

She didn't wanted to tell him.

Pouring chakra all over her body she launched herself forward as fast as she could, if she manages to knock him out she would escape dealing the minimal amount of damage and protecting her secret, but as her fist approached the blond from Konoha she noticed that his fist was raising to counterattack.

And his fist connected with her face before her own fist could deal any damage, but ignoring the damage she suffered she threw her left fist to his abdomen hitting him this time only to receive another hit in the face from the same fist she quickly lowered her head to dodge a third strike from the offending fist and spun on her left foot to deliver a spinning kick with her right leg, the attack pushed him back but he threw his own kick and it hit her shoulder.

"What the hell is your problem?!" he yelled, she smiled when she noticed he was rubbing his stomach, she was about to comment on it but she felt her own cheek sore and decided not to say it.

"Not a prodigy my ass!" she screamed "Just how far do you have that stick inside you Naruto-kun?!" no normal person would have been able to react to her first attack, and the blond definitely won that exchange

And he was now on guard and after that initial exchange she knew he was her better in taijutsu, he did not had any guard on when she attacked and still landed the first hit, doing a couple of hand seals she summoned her Water Release: Cutting Water Sword.

"I just wanted to know Fu-chan" he said before running towards her, accepting the fact that they would fight… he may not know it yet, but there was no way she would tell him… or show him her secret unless she was forced to.

He closed the just as fast a she expected him to but with her jutsu she now had the reach advantage so she forced him to dodge and retreat with a few well executed swings, he was looking at her, evaluating her, she would not let him get time to think and this time she ran forward.

She attacked using every move she knew tried as many combinations as she could but Naruto's speed advantage was keeping him unharmed, when she overextended a swing he got the space he needed to do a few fast hand seals and a clone of him appeared next to him, noticing that both Narutos left an impression on the ground they touched she correctly deduced this was some kind of corporeal clones.

And now they stood apart from each other trying to get inside her blind spot.

"That stick must be in really deep!" she said trying to force a mistake out of him.

"Would you please stop talking about my ass while holding that jutsu!?"

Now he made her feel uncomfortable, she even thought of dispelling her jutsu, but she immediately realized it would cost her greatly to do so.

Naruto ran to her with his clone flanking her, now she was on the defensive again and she tried her best to hit at least one of the blondes but there was just too many punches and kicks coming from odd angles and in too many directions for them not to land, she was accumulating damage and she could not let it happen!

She channeled some of her tenant's chakra, not enough for it to be visible but enough to get her out of her this situation, and so she got one of the Narutos with her jutsu and it disappeared in a cloud of white smoke, turning around she caught sight of the original doing hand seals again, she could not let him do any more jutsus!

But this time it only took the blond one damn seal to do the jutsu, but this time there were five Narutos!

Quickly she jumped back to avoid being surrounded she could only stare at the blonds as they tried to form a circle around her, she was still fine, she can still overcome the blond, this jutsu must be costing him a lot of chakra.

She ran letting the clones catch up to her one by one and dispelling them as they came close to her and in a short time it was only her and the original alone once again.

"You could just tell me Fu-chan, we don't need to fight"

'Damn him!' she thought while eying him, he didn't appeared to be tired yet, but he will.

"How long can you keep making those clones Naruto-kun? What do you think will happen once you are out of chakra?" she countered, knowing that he has higher reserves than her, but that's all he has, the nanabi's chakra will give her the edge in the end when he exhaust his reserves.

He made the damn hand seal again and even more clones appeared! There was enough of them to overwhelm her this time and he still didn't looked winded at all.

"How about I show you something special!" she said and she could see him put that dam perverted smile on his face, but he would not be smiling for long.

She ran to him while summoning her red, one tailed cloak.

Just as she thought all the blonds were easy to dispel once in this form but as she was about to hit the original he reacted and instead of hitting him square in the face her fist landed on his chest and the force of the impact sent him flying, she followed him intent on knocking him out where he crashed but she was paralyzed when she heard him speak.

"Jinchuriki"

'He knows!' She stopped her attack instantly and just stared as the blond haired Konoha shinobi stood up, his black shirt ruined and barely holding together by a few threads.

Unfortunately she noticed the second blond molding chakra in a spherical shape on the hands of the original.

"Now I know I can't you leave!" he launched himself with the help of his clone while holding a ball of pure chakra on his hand.

The jutsu whatever it was, was strong enough to pierce thru her cloak and it felt like someone had just shoved a blender on her stomach.

She was sent flying back while spinning in the air so fast that it made her vision blur and causing a mess on her inner ear making her feel disorientated as she crashed around twenty meters from the spot he hit her.

The blond didn't understand she needs to be far from Taki when she was attacked by the Akatsuki for the village to survive!

'Please survive this Naruto-kun!'

She tapped deeper into the chakra of her tenant her cloak become redder and two pair of dragonfly wings appeared from her hips… and she knew no more.

0x0x0

Naruto remembered Jiraiya's words about Sasuke perfectly and couldn't help but to compare Sasuke's defection with Fu's.

In Sasuke's case he just wanted power and he thought Orochimaru could be the source of that power, but in Fu's case… he had no idea, so when he caught up to her he thought she may have a good reason to leave Taki, it was her life and her decision, if her reason was good enough he would just go back to Jiraiya in Taki and if someone asked him, he would just lie and say he never found her and leave her alone, if not…

But the caramel skinned girl refused to talk.

And this turned to be completely different from his fight with Sasuke, he didn't felt like his life was on the line here and Fu's comments would have make him laugh if they were back on Taki.

The green haired kunoichi had a jutsu he knew was capable of going thru a human being with relative ease and she was using it avoiding to hit his vital areas.

And he, for once had the upper hand over his opponent, the speed he spent almost five months building in the waters of River country along with the Gama Kumite taught to him by Jiraiya and combined with the reflexes he gained after long and painful dodge exercises. All of these factors added made him dominate the Taki kunoichi.

The clones he once used as a weapon only due to the sheer number he could produce were upgraded to an efficient fighter able to avoid hits and land its own strikes, he could no longer picture himself filling a clearing with his clones… no doing that would rob him of precious terrain to dodge to strike to win!

And using twenty clones now produced the same effects a hundred of them would have had a year ago.

At the rate the fight was going he would be able to take Fu back to Taki with relative ease.

That is until she showed him her chakra cloak and the sheer surprise of her being a jinchuriki left him and his clones unable to react on time. It was only luck that he was the last one to be hit.

The pretty girl with nice boobs was a jinchuriki!

And she was running away from the security of her hidden village, she would be alone against the likes of Uchiha Itachi, Hoshigaki Kisame and Orochimaru, and she didn't knew it, he had to take her back to Taki.

He was done talking, he tried but she was too stubborn to listen and she showed no interest on telling him what was wrong with her… he was done talking!

His trusty Rasengan did sent Fu flying back around twenty meters away, but he knew that it wouldn't be enough to put her down, not while she was protected by her cloak.

And her cloak changed, she gained four new appendages in the form of freaking wings!

'Oi Kitsune if you don't want to get our ass kicked by a girl you better give me all the chakra you can!'

He thought while Fu was standing up and looking at him, her body language changed so much that he thought she was no longer in control of herself!

' _You would be dead without me Naruto!'_ the dam biju was laughing inside him but he could still feel it's chakra flowing inside him filling every cell of his body and forming his own chakra cloak just as Fu started flying circles around him.

He had already reached the one tailed state he used to fight Sasuke on his second stage of the cursed mark but he could still fill more chakra coming from the fox.

He knew this power was too much for him to control, his cloak already had a second tail swinging around he wanted the fox to stop!

He would soon lose control of himself if he got any more chakra.

With his eyes fixed on the flying form of the pretty jinchuriki with nice boobs he lost himself to the chakra of the Fox.

0x0x0

Jiraiya must admit he was ill prepared to stop a jinchuriki without harming it.

To be fair he wasn't planning to start Naruto on the use of his tenant's chakra until the middle of the second year of their trip.

And designing and drawing a couple of biju chakra suppressing seals had costed him a couple of hours.

And now in the morning sun he could feel the tainted chakra of not one but two Jinchurikis.

As he got closer and closer he could feel the ground tremble and the trees shake.

In a hurry he summoned Fukasaku and his wife Shima.

"Why have you summoned us so early Jiraiya-chan?" Fukasaku, the small toad sage questioned him.

"Can't you feel all that chakra Pa?" Shima looked at her husband as if he was not noticing the most obvious thing in the world.

"I'm sorry Ma and Pa, but my student got himself involved with the sweet, little, wayward Taki jinchuriki"

"You really need to learn how to enter Sage mode alone Jiraiya-boy" Shima loved to remind him of that.

"Maybe once Naruto's training its done Ma"

As he waited for the few seconds it took for his venerable summons to help him enter sage mode the number of explosions doubled. With his body enhanced by natural chakra Jiraiya sped to the battlefield.

The explosions and tremors stopped and the trees weren't shaking anymore and when he finally got to a clearing he was not sure what was happening…

 **A/N:**

 **I noticed today that my fanfic now has over one hundred followers and I wanted to thank the people who reads my story by finishing this chapter today.**

 **Anyway I want to hear your opinions on my first fight scene, criticism will be accepted and yea, another cliffhanger muahahah.**


	11. Promises

She was awake, in general her body didn't ached, except of course for the stinging sensation on her wrists and arms, because she was tied, in a way that would not allow her to do any hand seals, but there was no pain in her abdomen even after being hit by that jutsu.

She did not open her eyes.

She couldn't mold her chakra, something was interfering with her, she only tried it a couple of times but it was enough for her to realize that any more attempts would have the same results.

So in the end she lost.

And she was happy?

It meant that Naruto-kun was alive!

That stick must be really, really deep inside of him.

She laughed.

She realized that now she would have to go back to Taki, be banished and start her trip all over again… really troublesome, but at least she didn't killed the blond.

"You will have to tell me what is so funny later, girl"

That was not Naruto-kun's voice!

Alarmed she opened her eyes and noticed the white haired man sitting on the ground with a scroll and a brush, Jiraiya of the Legendary Three had finally caught up to his companion apparently.

"I'm such an idiot" the fight with Naruto was to hide her status as a jinchuriki, instead she ended up using her biju's chakra against the blond.

'He must hate me now'

"Yet another thing you two have in common" Jiraiya's lips were curled up in a tiny smile.

"Where is he, is he OK?" she asked hoping she didn't hurt the blond to much before the sannin arrived.

"He is over there" he pointed to sleeping bag a couple of meters behind her where the blond seemed to be sleeping peacefully.

Relief washed over her body knowing that the blond was alive, then she noticed a small rock crash on the blond's forehead and he began to stir, then another rock hit the same spot with more force this time and the Naruto awakened jumping to his feet and pointing to the sannin he cursed silently.

He was completely healthy, his t-shirt was torn asunder and that was the only sing that they had fought "Damn you ero-sennin!"

He sat on the ground and looked at her in the eyes, "Idiot" he was talking to her.

After putting him thru a fight with what was basically her tenant she was surprised he wasn't calling her a crazy bitch.

"You have no idea of who's out there do you?" he asked her heatedly as if she was just plainly dumb.

"The Akatsuki!" she murmured, it made sense that the sannin apprentice would know about them, and it made it more meaningful that he tried to take her back to Taki… where he thought she would be safe.

"You knew about them and still left!?" he seemed amazed, as if he was wondering how she could be so stupid.

"And she did the right think" Fu looked at the sannin while trying to sit down with her arms tied to her back, he said it in a matter of fact tone that relieved her.

"You can't be serious pervy sage!" Naruto on the other hand still could not believe her leaving her home village was a good idea at all.

"Think about this kid, what would happen to Taki should Akatsuki invade It looking for your little girlfriend?" she blushed at being called the blond's "little girlfriend" she was barely shorter than Naruto! And she wasn't his girlfriend either.

But that seemed to do the trick, the blond became silent and put one hand in his chest while the other caressed his chin with his fingers in a somewhat funny "thinking pose"

As the blond rationalized what would happen If Akatsuki attacked her village and his eyes widened in realization.

"This makes her exile official" Jiraiya said handing a document with Shibuki's stamp on it to the blond.

"Hey that's supposed to be mine!" she could not help but feel offended, the paper was hers and she would be the last one to read it!

Regardless the blond took the paper and read it before sighting and handing the paper back to the sannin

"And when will I read it!?" Fu's rage was toned down when she felt the ropes on her limbs, she was a prisoner, she attacked the apprentice of the legendary shinobi and she was no longer a member of Taki, she was no longer allied to them, they could extract her biju, kill her in the process and take it back to Konoha and no one will ever know!

"Sorry" Naruto took the document back from his master and presented it to her so she could read it, it would have been funny, if she was not fearing for her life.

"What will you do with me?" she asked timidly, her freedom didn't lasted a full day.

"What would you do Naruto?" Jiraiya asked Naruto surprising her and him as well, she looked at the blond curious as what he would do if he was in charge on this situation, and he looked her back, but his eyes did not meet hers, they were fixated bellow her neck.

"Pervert!" she forgot for a moment that this was the same shinobi that two days ago was had gone out of his way to get a feeling of her body… perhaps she could seduce him… but then there was Jiraiya and she could never seduce such a legendary shinobi, he would certainly be immune to such tactics.

The blond looked away embarrassed for being caught while his master laughter filled the clearing.

When the sannin laugh stopped he repeated his question "What would you do Naruto?"

"Why do you ask me in the first place?" the blond deflected the question, she knew that whatever decision he recommended would not be final but she was curious what her "friend" would do.

"This is not something a Hokage would deal with in an everyday basis Naruto, this will give me insight on how you would deal this with 'unexpected opportunities'" she shuddered remembering her little theory, Naruto was indeed being groomed for the Hokage position in the future, the blond IS a possible Hokage.

Jiraiya's explanation seemed to make Naruto consider the options available for the situation, but it only took a couple of seconds for him to come with his answer.

"Take her with us, make her a Konoha kunoichi"

That was better than what she expected, she though he would just suggest to send her back to Konoha to extract her biju.

"You are thinking with wrong head brat!" Fu blushed… of course she forgot that taking her with them would give the blond lots of "opportunities"

"What?!" the blond yelled at his master with a red face "No!"

"Let's say you weren't, explain to me why it is a good idea to make her a Konoha kunoichi?"

The blond was silent and that made Fu feel uncomfortable 'so he was thinking about that after all'

"Konoha's power would greatly increase with a second jinchuriki. I don't know how to create a jinchuriki, but Suna did not gave up on Gaara when he was basically a murderer must mean it is not easy or fast" he looked at her as if evaluating her "She was ready to die for Taki, she could fight for Konoha!" Fu did not know who Gaara was but she could deduct it was another Jinchuriki easily enough.

The blond made good points but… becoming a Konoha Kunoichi? The idea never even crossed her mind.

"Those are the pros kid. Do you know what the cons are?" Jiraiya asked again and Fu could not get her eyes away from Naruto, this time he looked at the sky, the sun was on the western part of it, well past afternoon, but the blond did not want to know the time of day, he was thinking, thinking hard.

"Konoha will be a bigger target for Akatsuki" he finally said

"This was too much for you right now kid" Jiraiya spoke after sighting "Not just the Akatsuki, Iwa and Kumo will see it as a provocation and Suna will lose a great deal of prestige by becoming the one great village without two jinchurikis"

"The minor villages will also see it as Konoha stripping a weapon from its allies and it could break many alliances…" Fu caught herself speaking before realizing it, and what she said was detrimental for her own case!

Embarrassed she looked at the ground.

Jiraiya laughed at her comment "See kid? She is closer to become Hokage than you are!"

She wanted the earth to open and swallow her whole.

"Yet another point in my favor!" she was looking at the blond with awe, she didn't realized she had such a passionate advocate on the blond "Besides, she has better control of her biju than I do"

Fu lost her voice.

'What does he means with better control than him?' her mind was focused on what she just heard 'The blond can't be a jinchuriki, cant he?'

"That's not saying much kid"

"Shut up pervy sage!"

As the student and master duo continued bickering she finally found her voice "Are you really a jinchuriki?" she had to know.

The blond looked at her and blinked "Don't you remember?" he was confused "I used the Fox's chakra to fight you"

She looked at the ground again, she did not remember, her control was perfect in her one tail cloak, but she was unable to control it beyond that, Shibuki told her she went from one tail to three skipping the two tails cloak, she didn't knew why.

She was barely able to distinguish friend from foe in her three tails cloak and she can never remember her actions afterwards.

"I don't remember" she admitted, she was not easy to defend.

"Well… I'm the kyubi's jinchuriki" the blond admitted.

"You are like… me?" it made no sense for Fu, the blond was another container but the way he acted and the way he was pampered by his village, she could not began to compare how different there upbringing was.

"You two share the same status if that's what you mean" she could tell from the words of Jiraiya, they were nothing alike.

She was the village pariah.

He is a possible Hokage.

She felt… envy, had she been born in Konoha would she be the pampered one?

"Look, if we don't take her with us then Akatsuki will just get her, we can't allow that to happen!"

Could she trust the blond advocating for her?

She knew what he wanted from her and the price was honestly insignificant for the security of Konoha would offer.

Sure she would be Konoha's weapon instead of Taki's.

But still… she would be trading a frail cage for a true prison.

She could never escape from, Konoha the way she did from Taki.

Looking at the blond again she could not help but wonder 'would I be pampered by Konoha too?'

Unlikely, he was native from the village and she would be an outsider wielding a powerful weapon, she would be feared again.

But she would live, and life was full of opportunities, anything could happen while you are still alive.

"So it's pissing off Akatsuki more important than keeping our allies happy?"

The words of the sage were deliberately cold and they always struck the faults in his student's argument 'This is just another lesson he's teaching' never before she felt more objectified than at this moment, not even when she thought Naruto would get his way with her in the darkened streets of Taki.

Back in the streets of Taki she thought at first that he was trying to seduce her or simply create the required conditions to initiate coitus, it was not a nice feeling, but at least she could compare it to being a somewhat complex machine difficult to operate.

But now she felt like she was a boulder to them, without ears to listen or a mouth to speak, they just ignored her like she was just another element of the scenery.

She could only wait and it was humiliating.

"Our allies will complain but what will Akatsuki do with the Bijus?"

Naruto made an interesting question, she hadn't thought of it, but what could they possibly do with the Bijus after acquiring them?

The general answer was nothing good.

She looked at Jiraiya for the specific answer, waiting for him to describe the kind of horrors these S-class criminals would inflict on the world or even how it will affect Konoha

But the sage did not respond, not even he knows the answer.

"Our allies won't be happy, but they won't do anything, our enemies will still be our enemies but Konoha will be stronger, let's take her with us!"

She smiled at the words of the blond, he was making progress towards her survival, he had a point!

Sighting Jiraiya agreed "I'll send a message back to Tsunade, then we deliver her to Konoha"

She will live… but she dreaded her new prison.

"Are you stupid ero-sennin?"

This time she had to look at the blond, and she was sure Jiraiya was doing the same, Naruto basically won their little argument. Jiraiya would sent her to Konoha recommending her to be enlisted as a kunoichi of the leaf. And he still called his master stupid?

There was silence, Jiraiya said nothing probably expecting him to explain himself.

"Listen, I just fought her, she needs to train!"

This time she glared at Naruto, sure he won, but she wasn't exactly weak, she was one of the, if not the strongest ninjas in Taki.

"She can train in Konoha" Jiraiya said calmly pointing out the obvious answer to the blond's objections.

Besides it's not as if she needed to be told to train, she knows very well that her life it's on the line. She will need to pull her own weight in Konoha… or face the consequences.

Konoha won't stand for a weak weapon.

"We should take her with us"

Fu's eyes widened.

"I have enough with one student kid"

"You're just being lazy sensei"

She wanted this, she wanted to train with them, and she wanted to survive.

"Why should I do it?"

But what could she offer in exchange? She was already their prisoner, her life was not as important as the biju she contained, her future was Konoha.

But what about the future of Konoha?

She looked at the blond, the future Hokage.

"Master Jiraiya, if you train me I'll protect Naruto with my life. I promise"

Jiraiya laughed.

The sage's laugh filled her with uncertainty, does Jiraiya considers her not good enough?

"Untie her kid" Naruto did as he was told and cut the ropes restraining her without a second thought and helped her get on her knees, the blond had a small sincere smile on his lips "Now both of you go get something for dinner, take your time but get back here before sunset"

"Does this mean…?" she asked with hope, the sannin hadn't said that he accepts her promise yet, he could be just playing with them and she wanted to hear it to be certain.

"It means that you are my student now Fu, and I'll protect both of you. Now go!" Jiraiya dismissed her and Naruto with a shooing motion.

Naruto put a hand on her shoulder and with his head motioned to follow him to the forest where they could find some food.

She followed him closely barely believing he would show her his back after their fight like he was holding no grudge at all, and in no time they were on the forest she immediately used connection to the bugs all around them to locate a few preys.

There was a grass snake and one hare around thirty meters away, the hare would be good enough for one person but the snake while nutritious may be an insult to Jiraiya, spotting the hare she noticed she didn't had a kunai, it was logical to take away the weapons of a prisoner "Hey Naruto, do you have a spare kunai?" just one throwing weapon would be enough to hunt multiple preys.

The blond running ahead stopped and searched in his weapons bag for a kunai and held it by the ring in the handle offering it to her, she grabbed the handle of but he didn't let go of the ring and she looked at him in surprise, he wasn't so trusting after all. Her eyes found his unblinking, blue orbs to rely her message "I swore to protect you, you have nothing to fear from me" she pulled the handle once again but his hold on the ring of the kunai was still firm she looked at him in the eyes again but this time he talked first.

"I know, and while you are loyal to Konoha I will protect you at all cost, that is a promise of a life time"

0x0x0

'The pretty kunoichi with nice boobs has orange eyes! Did Kami made her for me and then hide her in Taki?'

Despite Jiraiya's impromptu lesson on inter-village politics regarding the ownerships of jinchurikis which didn't made him happy, despite waking up from a fight in which he he used more of the Kyubi's chakra than ever before and not remembering a thing after some point where he reached the third tail on his cloak, despite asking Jiraiya to train Fu and despite her promise to protect him the only thing he could think of was that the pretty jinchuriki with nice boobs has orange eyes!

It took him three days to lock eyes with her, so he could notice her eye color, of course she had other… distracting features no less appealing but he could not believe those orange orbs escaped his attention for so long.

When he heard Fu's promise to Jiraiya it was probably the most uncomfortable moment of his life, it was usually him the one who is makes the promises, uncomfortable it might been, but it felt nice to know there would be someone at your side helping you.

He wanted her to be a Konoha kunoichi, a loyal one and knowing that her recent promise more for her benefit than his he still wanted to make her understand that konoha shinobi look out for each other.

That it's why he made his own promise to her but he worded it to make her understand that he wants her to be loyal to Konoha. He would protect her the same he would protect any other comrade loyal to Konoha, with everything he has!

0x0x0

Jiraiya was clear with her before he left with the brat on their training trip, he wanted to show how much he improved all at once so he wouldn't be sending detailed reports on his progress he sent her once a month.

So she was used to very short reports that just stated that they were alright, keeping themselves busy and away from any possible Akatsuki.

So the length of this month's report didn't took her by surprise.

But then there was a second report a week earlier than it was supposed to come, and it had much more content on it too.

The situation with Taki was concerning, previous reports from Shibuki seemed to be inaccurate if Jiraiya was right their military assets are too low to properly do their job.

She would have to send a few genin soon and they will have to be fresh out of the academy because she cannot spare those with field experience, Konoha itself needs a boost on its numbers.

An additional document was sealed within the report, Taki's jinchuriki exile to be precise.

A fourteen year old kunoichi in possession of the Nanabi no Kabutomushi, she was actually surprised with Jiraiya's proactiveness, she half expected her old teammate to leave Taki to its own devices but instead he provided them information and then captured the free jinchuriki.

Well the report says it was Naruto whom chased after the girl and Jiraiya after Naruto and this led to the most interesting part of the report by far.

Both jinchurikis fought using their biju's chakra and according with her teammate the chakra and its effects could be felt kilometers away from the battle and when Jiraiya was finally within sight range of it…

It was all Naruto, he was jumping around, using his cloak's giant hands to hit the ground break trees like they were mere fire wood and using Biju-Bombs at random.

All the while the girl just hovered in the center of the mayhem using the wings her own cloak provided her, occasionally pushing Naruto away rather violently when he walked towards her.

After being pushed by the female jinchuriki Naruto resumed his random show of power without ever attempting to harm her.

Jiraiya at first thought Naruto was out of control but noticing he never actually attempted to attack this Fu girl decided to keep watching.

Naruto finished with his tantrum once more before walking towards the female jinchuriki, but this time she did not pushed him away but rather landed allowing the blond to come closer to her letting him gently push her to the ground.

She lay into the ground resting her weight on her elbows and opening her legs to Naruto who was kneeling before her…

At first she thought Jiraiya sent her a draft of his next book but the next part explained how her teammate used biju suppressing seals to knock out both of them.

Jiraiya believes both jinchurikis were out of control and as much as it pains her to admit it his theory seems right.

He witnessed a jinchuriki's mating ritual.

Jinchurikis are curious creatures, they are neither human nor biju, she always theorized that when they lost control of themselves while using their tenant's chakra they weren't exactly relenting control to their biju.

Instead they lost control of the higher functions of their brains allowing more basic process to take over. In a battle of course they would attack anything that may pose a danger to themselves, and every shinobi present was perceived as dangerous.

But what would happen if two jinchurikis were to lose control of themselves at the same time?

Or more importantly… what would happen if two jinchurikis of different gender were to lose control of themselves at the same time? With no apparent danger nearby?

Considering all the ruckus Naruto caused without ever harming his potential mate, he was clearly trying to show off how strong he was, showing his genes deserve to be carried on to the next generation… and the girl agreed.

In the final part of the report Jiraiya stated the willingness of this Fu girl to join Konoha's ranks and recommended her to be accepted.

Jiraiya also mentioned he accepted her as her student and stated their training trip would be resumed and they will be back on schedule.


	12. Bonding

He sent Naruto and Fu to hunt something for dinner, he needed time to think.

Capturing Fu was surprisingly easy, all things considered.

Manipulating her to join Konoha was a bit trickier taking into account he had no idea how Naruto would respond to his questions.

The blond did rather well pressing his case, better than he anticipated for sure.

But then the blond had to ruin it by suggesting that he should train both of them.

He was determined to deliver Fu to Konoha thinking nothing the blond would make him change his opinion on the matter.

He was right, Naruto did not convinced him, it was Fu, that unexpected promise of hers pressed all the right buttons on him so he accepted to take her with them and train her along with Naruto.

The problem was… he did not plan for this, he felt uneasy at the thought of teaching the girl, she is a foreigner after all.

But it's not like he could play favorites now, he would give this girl a chance.

And she better not waste it!

0x0x0

Naruto could feel the thrown kunai even if he wasn't the target, this was the second time she threw it, and this was her second hare.

And he was still looking for a prey. His eyes furiously scanning the area for something edible to catch or to collect but all he could find was a damn grass snake and he knew that Jiraiya was averse of eating long cylindrical objects for some reason he could not fathom.

"There are no more preys here unless you want a snake!"

He heard Fu call out and frowned, she could not be that much of a better hunter than him could she?

"How do you know that?"

"A fly told me"

Naruto frowned at the girl, he didn't know if she joking or if she was making fun of him "I was serious"

It would be better to talk to her, last time trying a bit harder would have avoided a dangerous fight.

"Me too" he could see the amusement on those glowing, vibrant orange eyes, 'So she was serious about this fly thing?' "Do I have something on my face?"

"Huh?" What did she mean by that? Then he realized he was staring her eyes for far longer than was necessary to convey his message.

"You have orange eyes" he stated, at this point it was better admitting his guilt over the minor offense than letting her assume he was staring at her boobs… firm but yet soft boobs.

"I preferred when you stared at my face" she said while crossing her arms in front of her chest to cover herself with the two hares still on her left hand hanging from their long ears.

"Sorry" said the blond while cursing Jiraiya in his mind 'This wouldn't have happened half a year ago… Curse you Jiriaya!'

Looking at the ground to be sure not to stare again he repeated his question this time more to forget his embarrassment than out of curiosity "How do you know there are no more preys around here?"

"A fly told me"

There she was again evading his question, he could just ignore her and keep looking in the area but if she was right he would be wasting his time "And you can speak with flies?" he asked seriously, he still remembered Shino's fight in the preliminary rounds of the chunin tournament, bugs can do scary things.

"… yes…"

"Are you serious?" he asked again, if she was not lying that's a seriously useful skill to have, according to Jiraiya the Aburame clan played a key role in the defeat of Iwa during the second great war serving as spies and scouts, all thanks to their little allies.

"Yes, I'm serious" he could tell she was getting annoyed but it's not like that's a skill everyone has.

"So, are you related to the Aburame clan or…?"

"It's a thing I can do because I'm the container of the Nanabi no Kabutomushi!"

She interrupted him rather hotly, this was likely sensitive topic for her, and he could imagine she likes to talk about the Nanabi as much as he likes to talk about the Kyubi.

"So the Nanabi just lets you talk to flies" even if it was a sensitive matter he was still curious, and she was the first jinchuriki he can actually talk to.

With Gaara it was their jutsu doing the talk and even if in the end they reached an understanding they were hardly friends, instead they harbored great respect for each other, they knew what the other is capable of and it was implied that they rather avoid another battle if possible, the few words they shared that were not death threats confirmed something for him.

Just like him Gaara lived a life of loneliness and the only difference between them was the bonds with the people that surrounded them, or in Gaara's case, the lack of them.

And it was only when he made the Suna jinchuriki understand that he would go to any length to protect the people he shared bonds with that Gaara relented and admitted his defeat.

They were allies now and Gaara was a reliable one at that.

But Fu… Fu was supposed to be a comrade now.

They must trust each other now, but that will take some time.

Throwing his kunai he killed the grass snake, he'll eat it himself if he has to, but he needed to save time to talk to her.

His only previous experience at getting to know a new comrade was the introduction Kakashi forced Sakura-chan, Sasuke and himself to perform, maybe he could do something like that.

Retrieving the snake he just killed he said "There is something I would like to do"

"Gee, you really don't know how to be subtle do you Naruto?" Fu said with a snarl.

He smiled, it was always the same with her, this was her favorite defense method it seems.

"Everything it's about sex with you isn't it?" she accused him of not been subtle? Good he will be blunt "It's almost as if you wanted to get in my pants or something"

"How dare you?" oh she was mad now, but it doesn't really matter, they are already talking at least.

"What else I'm supposed to think then? Every time I want to talk with you, you act as if I'm out to get you" he sat on the ground with his back resting in the log of a tree.

"And you are!" she accused him "Or have you forgotten what you did the first time we met?"

He looked at the palm of his right hand and unconsciously squished with his fingers 'Firm yet form'

They both blushed at this, one remembering his sin not really regretting it and the other knowing exactly what that motion means.

"I already apologized for that Fu-chan!" he reminded her "And I made it up to you didn't I?"

"I forgave you but I haven't forgotten Naruto-kun!"

"Anyway, this isn't about sex" he declared "You are a Kunoichi of Konoha now" he looked at her seriously his voice conveying this was an important matter but he was distracted by her hand in her chest motioning for him to look upwards.

"If this isn't about sex would you stop looking at me breasts?"

He blushed again and closed his eyes, which seemed the only way to stop staring "I'm sorry, Jiraiya says I'm at "That Age""

"That's a rather convenient excuse" he could hear her footsteps getting closer to him and then a few dry leaves crumble under her weight, she probably sat on the side of the tree he was using.

"It is" he admitted "But it is still true, six months ago this would have not happened"

"So you are admitting you are a pervert?" she asked dangerously he could not avoid the question but he must deny it at all costs

"I'm not a pervert" for some reason he remembered that at this point Jiraiya would say he is a super pervert and smiled.

"Come on Naruto-kun, have you forgotten?" she asked, her voice still dangerous but there was a hint of anticipation on them.

"And what did I forgot?" he must remind him because he really forgot if there really was something to be remembered.

"You touch women at every opportunity, you run around without your pants for hours, you invite girls to your 'entourage' and you read porn"

He wanted the tree to fall on him at that very moment, he forgot about that talk completely.

"You are the only girl I ever touched… that way, I've only ran without pants once in my life and you are the only girl I've ever invited to my 'entourage' so I think those three are somewhat your fault!"

"My Fault!?" she was mad again

"Look, let's forget about that stuff, that's not what I wanted to talk about. Ok?" he said as fast as possible, he wanted to make this introduction stuff now before they get carried away again.

"What do you wanted to talk about then… pervert?"

Sighting he explained "After I Graduated from the academy, our jonin sensei made my teammates and me introduce ourselves so we could get to know each other's, so I wanted to try that now that you are a comrade"

"We already know each other" she countered dismissively.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, I like my friends, grandma Tsunade, Jiraiya and Ramen, my hobbies are… training in rivers I guess I also used to play pranks on people, my dislikes are traitors and rusty kitchen knives and my dream for the future it's to become the greatest Hokage ever, Believe it!" he extended his fist remembering his dream, he would do it, he would become Hokage and surpass all the previous ones!"

"That is just basic info" Fu said in a dismissive tone of voice.

"Then you don't mind sharing, do you?" even if it's just a little, sharing this will help her open to him and maybe could be the start of a bond between them.

"Alright then, Lord Hokage" he smiled at her playful tone of voice but decided not to comment on it "I'm Fu, just Fu, I like books and…" he could feel her hesitating "The view you of the sunset you have from the great tree in Taki, the library, the people that worked on the leader's building and Shibuki" she paused and he could feel her eyes on him.

"It's ok, you can't like things in Konoha when you never been there, but I swear the views of Konoha are amazing" he said so Fu could know he isn't judging her.

"My dislikes are the villagers of Taki and people who can't keep their hands to themselves" her eyes were still fixed on him and he could not help but to smile at the insinuation, yea, she loved him but it was time to interrupt.

"I guess us jinchurikis are treated the same everywhere"

"What do you mean?" she was surprised, more than he anticipated.

"Stop me if what I say it's wrong Fu" he commanded and started talking about how the less intelligent people would treat him "They whisper behind your back the cruelest things they can think of, they sell you expired foods and deficient products, they told their kids to stay away from you, you are dangerous, you don't deserve to be a shinobi… they make you feel so"

She finished for him "Alone" he nodded again knowing that she was watching him "But I thought you were…" he did not let her complete her sentence.

"A pampered prodigy"

There was silence for a moment, he didn't open his eyes, and he didn't wanted to ruin this by staring at her boobs. "Yes" she said after a few seconds.

"Well… I told you Fu-chan, you are the first person to ever call me a prodigy and I was certainly never pampered by the villagers"

"Stupid people" the two of them said at the same time, Naruto didn't knew, but they both shared the same smile, the smile of finding someone who understands the pain of loneliness.

"But it couldn't be so bad for you, I mean, you are the apprentice of Jiraiya of the legendary three"

"If this is a contest of who's suffered more neither of us are going to like it Fu-chan" he already had one with Sasuke, it ended with him impaled by a Chidori "Besides, Jiraiya's training can be painful too" he rubbed his temple and wondered how may stones crashed on it in the last three months.

"Training hurts sometimes" she said in a matter of fact tone of voice and he could not disagree with her.

"What are your hobbies and dreams for the future?" he asked her so she could continue.

"My hobbies… I love reading books" she said with a smile but then frowned remembering something "I forgot the books you gave me in Taki" she growled before continuing "I don't know if this counts as a dream or not… but I want to survive"

He could feel the despair on her voice and understand what she meant, they were both in the same boat in this matter.

"Let's make a promise Fu-chan, we will both survive!"

0x0x0

His body hurts, the feeling of his chakra flowing on his pathways, burns like a thousand suns, his head is spinning, his eyes can barely focus on the ceiling of his room and the bandage on his arm gives him the most unpleasant feeling of stickiness imaginable.

His body is having trouble to adjust to all the drugs Orochimaru is giving to his body thru his arm, three times a week five different compounds, he pukes at least twice a week, it's not like the food is any good anyway.

One week per month his body goes on this "Upgrade" treatment as the snake sannin orders, he barely can get any training done because his body must rest two weeks after each treatment.

But he cannot argue with the results, his sharingan its more accurate and he can even force genjutsus on other shinobis with it, his body it's stronger and faster than ever before and his chakra capacity has all but doubled.

If he keeps improving like this there is no doubt he will be ready to kill Itachi in a couple of years, maybe earlier, he was still working on how to control the second stage of the curse mark so he doesn't know for sure how much power he can gain from the love bite that Orochimaru gifted him.

Orochimaru… his master has limited his teachings to taijutsu and elemental manipulation hoping to make it easier to steal his body, but he will show him that no one but an Uchiha can beat an Uchiha.

He could see small sings here and there, Orochimaru's current vessel it's growing weaker after he developed that strange shedding skin jutsu of his, he will have to be careful of it when he kills his master.

0x0x0

This month's report it's almost completely normal, except for the part were Jiraiya talks about Fu and her interactions with Naruto.

She looked at the toad on her desk, the usual messenger Jiraiya sends his reports with, a clever and reliable summon for sure, she always envied her teammates summons, they were so diverse and versatile, they had many kinds of fighters on their ranks not to mention the three great battle toads of Mount Myoboku.

Katsuyu was a reliable and loyal partner, but she has few uses outside of battle and healing.

She gave the toad a headband with the symbol of Konoha on it, this would make Fu's new status as a Konoha kunoichi official so she sent the toad back to its master.

The council was conflicted about her joining Konoha, the elders were oh so happy about it, they wanted nothing more than to send for the girl and lock her away until they found someone worthy to wield the biju for village, the clans were more reserved about it, but all of them were happy with the decision to "recruit" this new kunoichi in their ranks.

The official document exiling Fu from Taki was now more valuable than the necklace she lost gambling to Naruto, with it they would get out of any diplomatic incident acquiring their new jinchuriki can cause… not that they would be announcing they have a new jinchuriki anytime soon, but they will have to in the future.

It was only when she showed this document to the council that they all agreed to Fu joining the village, with that matter closed they tried to decide the most opportune moment to extract the Nanabi from her.

She smiled at that, she won't allow the extraction of the biju, not when she knew that the girl could be the goose of the golden eggs…

She was perfect to breed Naruto.

Jinchuriki offspring are usually more vigorous than the average shinobi, proof of that are Hoshigaki Kisame and the same Naruto.

Jinchuriki tend to develop unique traits due to the influence of their tenants and that in turn makes them a mine for valuable genetic material that can be used to produce equally unique shinobis.

But the offspring of two jinchurikis it's something new, yet to be seen, and she wishes to see it happen.

At that moment her student entered her office barely missing the departure of the toad by a few minutes.

The girl has great potential as a combat medic that's for sure, she has met her expectations and even surpassed a few.

"Good afternoon Tsunade-sensei" she bowed politely.

"Done with your rounds in the hospital already Sakura?" this was their routine she would do some work on the hospital in the morning and comeback in the afternoon for some training.

"Yes sensei… do you have any news on Naruto and Master Jiraiya?" she asked hopefully.

Yes, she did but she won't be sharing all of them that would be distracting for her training "they are doing fine, don't worry about them" she said with a smile.

She stood up and walked to the door while her student followed her, sensing Sakura following her to her private training ground her mind could not help but go back to her previous train of thoughts… the girl its nothing special genetically speaking but she can provide an adequate genetic frame for either Naruto or the Uchiha boy, whoever she opens her legs for first.

 **A/N: short chapter but I felt it was a good time to end it, anyway, I used this chapter to do a little world building so nothing extraordinary happened unless you count my take on Tsunade, she is not evil and still cares for Naruto and Sakura but she is a bit more crazy than in canon.**

 **Read and review.**


	13. Puppet Master

Fu was returning to their camp with a grand total of three hares and two pheasants ready to be cooked, she checked on her new headband in her left arm, it had the spinning leaf that symbolized Konoha ninja for nearly a hundred years engraved on it.

She was Konoha's now and the merely thinking of it made her feel uncomfortable, she belonged to a village she's never been on before, she only knew two persons from Konoha and they were her fellow student and her sensei, her saviors and jailors.

If not for them she would probably be hiding in a mountain wary of her own shadow but at the same time if it wasn't for them she would be free.

She had mixed feelings regarding them and ironically that was better than the outright hate she felt for the common people of Taki.

Her sensei is a man who's forged his own legend in the world by not only surviving the most perilous situations but emerging victorious from them.

She had seen him summon the toads he was so famous for and it was not the mountain sized ones he would use to fight battalions of enemy shinobi it served to remind her of just how powerful the man truly was.

It again made her feel protected and imprisoned at the same time.

There was another thing the sannin was known for, his mastery of Fuinjutsu, she could hardly believe him when the man admitted to have designed her seal on Taki's request and he was proud of his work.

She remembers the embarrassing experience of having the man check the mark on her back to see if it was applied correctly or if there was any need to repair it.

It also made her notice that Taki was under Konoha's thumb and her former village could barely take a shit without the help of her new one and it made her wonder if any other minor village was in a similar situation to Taki?

She shook her head, that was not important right now. She could see her camp in the clearing Jiraiya choose, Naruto already had a fire going and had an variety of leafs, roots and berries organized close to it.

Neither Jiraiya nor Naruto wear their headbands, out of the tree of the she was the only one required to have it visible at all times so she could be identified as a Konoha shinobi in case she encountered an allied squad and she wasn't with them.

They were travelling in the north of the land of Fire after all so it was possible for them to have "friendly" encounters, but she suspected it was also so she could get used to the idea that she is now property of Konoha, this was much more likely if she considered that she was ordered to remove the headband if they entered a city where they wanted to keep a low profile.

Naruto was waving his hands greeting her and she raised hers to show off her trophies with a smile, it took the blond a week to admit he could not compare to her as a hunter and request to their master to be put in charge of making her catches edible.

It was a funny idea that two shinobis would reverse the traditional role of couples with her going out to hunt and him collecting wild fruits, berries and herbs to cook their food. Yes, she was the provider and Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage, was her bitch!

When it comes to hunting at least.

The day she started her new training Jiraiya ordered her to spar with Naruto and he forbid the use of biju's chakra to both of them and as she suspected she was outclassed by the blond, his arms and legs appeared to be far longer while they spared and he could often stand outside of her reach and hit her without fearing a counterattack… oh and he always seemed to know when she was about to attack as well.

Later it was revealed that the blond trained to reduce his response time and was merely reacting fast enough to give her that impression.

After getting beat for a while she again used the Water Release: Cutting Water Sword to even the field, the blond just called for his replicas to regain his advantage.

After that first spar Jiraiya spend a full day revising her taijutsu correcting her stances and showing her a few moves he believed could suit her and explained the conditions on which they would be more beneficial to use.

The sannin also introduced her to the same speed training Naruto did, underwater sprints was an interesting training method for sure since it also helped to increase hand speed.

After a month she could see improvements on her speed and she noticed the blond was getting easier to hit, but it was still a frustrating exercise.

She was also initiated into the dodging exercise to train her reflexes.

It consisted of dodging small stones that Jiraiya and his clones threw at her, Naruto did the same thing a few meters away from her, he did it so much better than her at the beginning it was frustrating, he dodged while repeatedly doing the hand seal sequence for the Replacement Jutsu. She was tried it too but she was not nearly as fast and got hit more often than when just focusing on dodging.

Jiraiya ordered her to stop doing the seals for the moment, once her reflexes were good enough he would allow her to form the hand seals.

After a month of training she was now at the stage she could also dodge while practicing the replacement Jutsu as well, but her master took that opportunity to increase the difficulty of the exercise, now she had to stand within a small circle no bigger than a meter in diameter alongside with Naruto.

The two of them were supposed to dodge without getting in each other's way and stay in the circle.

The two were hit much more often when dodging like this than when they dodged alone and that also confirmed her previously acquired knowledge:

Uzumaki Naruto was a pervert.

He took advantage of being "trapped" so close to her and the need to constantly move and dodge to get a feeling of her body, she often could feel his hands "accidentally" touching her legs or even her butt!

Of course her feet also found themselves often hitting his ankles and occasionally his genitalia so she called it even.

In the night while Jiraiya gave them lectures about one stuff or another or just made them read by the fire was when she got to know them better.

Jiraiya-sensei was a very accomplished shinobi and was probably more powerful than she could imagine, he was well versed in ninjutsu, taijutsu and was a high level seal master and a spy master.

He was the author of the books Naruto once gave her, he was a best seller author and he specialized on erotica and the man was in his own words a super pervert.

Her fellow jinchuriki was a male of thirteen years old, with big dreams and the ambition of becoming Hokage in spite of being a jinchuriki, he was practically addicted to physical training, he was an orphan of unknown parentage born the night the kyubi attacked Konoha and he was turned into a jinchuriki the same night he was born and he was as isolated from Konoha as she was from Taki.

Having Jiraiya to train him was easily one of the top five moments of his life along with the day he was accepted into Konoha's military ranks as a genin along with his team.

He liked to talk to her about Konoha, about a ramen stand called "Ichiraku Ramen" he claimed served the best ramen of the elemental nations, about its kind owner and his daughter, or about how you could see the entire village from the Hokage monument or about his time in the academy and his former teacher Iruka.

The blond spend a lot of time describing the village for her in general trying to make her feel at ease with the idea of belonging to Konoha.

But she simply couldn't discard the idea of Konoha extracting her biju as soon as the higher ups thought it was safe to be comfortable with the fact that Konoha is her new home.

That is why she tried her damn hardest on every training session her sensei puts them thru, to be able to show the Hokage she was worth wielding the Nanabi in Konoha's name.

Surely the Hokage would listen to her former teammate if he puts on a good word for her, she just needed to make sure she makes a good impression on Jiraiya.

But the anxiety she feels thinking about her survival never goes away no matter how hard she trains or how much she improves.

"Dibs on the pheasant!" Naruto declared energetically.

She handed him her catches and sighted, she will allow Jiraiya to get the second bird since Naruto called dibs on the first, she would have liked to get the other but small sacrifices must be made for her long term goal of survival.

"Not going to call dibs on the other?"

"Sensei can have it" she said but she must not have been very convincing because the blond could tell she would like to get a pheasant.

"Just give a hare to the lazy old man, he should wake up earlier if he wants to be choose" said Naruto while plucking one pheasant, the blond never liked how their sensei got to be fed without helping on the chores of the camp, and to be honest she doesn't like it either but that's how life is.

"I can't do that!" she won't risk her survival for a meal, no matter how tasty.

"Bullshit!" the blond smiled while preparing the first pheasant on a stick "You catch them, I cook them and he gets the leftovers" he whispered while pointing to the sleeping Jiraiya and throwing a small bone from yesterday's dinner as if he was feeding a dog and she could not help but to laugh.

"Seriously Naruto, its fine!" she said once she calmed down, she wished he could understand that what was on the line was not a tasty bird but her life.

"This isn't about the food, is it?" he asked whispering again, much more seriously this time "I know something it's bothering you, I just don't know what"

"Don't worry about it, there is nothing you can do about it" she reassured him, he was already going out of his way to make her feel better, she can't just put more weight on his shoulders, he also needs to train hard if he wants to survive the Akatsuki.

"Maybe not right now, but I'll be Hokage someday!" he said with a smile "If you tell me now, I can fix it right away when I have that ugly hat"

She admired his confidence, there was never an ounce of doubt when he talked about becoming Hokage, to him it was a certainty.

"How can be so sure about becoming Hokage?" she asked him.

The five great hidden villages all have different ways to elect their leaders, Konoha in particular was like a weird dynasty were the hat does not pass from father to son like in Kumo or Suna, but from master to student.

The Hat passing from the Second to his student the Third, from Sarutobi Hiruzen to the student of Jiraiya when Namikaze Minato took the Hat and died the Hat went back to the Third and then to Tsunade who was another student of Sarutobi Hiruzen's, and considering Naruto it's the student of Jiraiya who was also a student of the Third, Naruto seemed to at least belong to the line of succession, but there were better candidates out there, like Hatake Kakashi… who was Naruto's jonin sensei… yea the blond definitely belongs to the line of succession.

"I'm awesome" He said lifting a one finger "and Grandma gave me this:" he said while taking a necklace from bellow his shirt, it was a beautiful crystal of a glowing blue color.

"What is that?" she asked knowing that for some reason Naruto likes to call the Hokage grandma 'Well considering she is as old as sensei she probably likes to be called grandma'.

"It belonged to the First" Naruto whispered in her ear making her realize the object was probably a national treasure… if he was telling the truth.

"Shizune told me it is cursed"

"And who is Shizune?" sometimes the blond forgot she wasn't born in Konoha and spoke of people she had no way of knowing.

"She its Grandma's assistant"

"So what's the curse?" she asked, even if he was lying to her the story it's entertaining enough to hear the rest of it.

"It will kill the owner if they are not destined to be Hokage" it was not Naruto who said that. It was Jiraiya who was finally awakening and apparently hearing everything about the cursed necklace.

"Hey I was supposed to say that!" Naruto yelled to their master, angry to be kicked out of the spotlight, but she wanted to know, was it real?

"Is it true?" she asked before the situation escalated like it always did.

"That necklace has had 5 owners, two of the become Hokages, two died shortly after receiving it, and the Kid"

If the story was real, then the two Hokages are Senju Hashirama and Tsunade, the identities of those who died isn't really important in this case, she needed to make an important question before she could get any hopes up with the absurd idea that was taking shape in her mind.

"Was Lady Tsunade trying to kill Naruto?" the blond fell flat onto the ground while Jiraiya just laughed.

"No. she does believe the kid can become Hokage one day"

Could she trust what her sensei just told her? It's the current Hokage really supporting Naruto so much to go as far to give him such a symbol?

She remembered back in Taki when she wasn't a Konoha kunoichi yet, the blond literally yelled he would become the Kage of Konoha… back then she believed him.

'So he has the right lineage, the charisma and with Jiraiya doing such a good job training us he will have the power' she smiled, 'I could replace despair with hope, I will still struggle to survive but she would no longer fear what awaits for her once the Akatsuki threat is over, and for all that to happen the only thing she had to do was seduce Uzumaki Naruto, the Hokage'

"Oh pheasant I call dibs!" Jiraiya said while watching Naruto turn around the bird so all of it gets cooked.

"Today you get a hare old man!" 'Because today I celebrate!'

0x0x0

Watching the star filled nocturnal sky was one of the few non-training related things he does honestly enjoy, he could stare at the sky and not feel the need to move because he spent the day using all of his energy and his body actually needed the rest.

In a way stargazing was his reward for a day of hard training, so when Jiraiya was done with his lectures for the day he usually finds a good spot to just lie and relax, it was a soothing experience to connect the dots in the sky and imagine his own constellations.

So far he found a particular group of stars that looked like a bowl of ramen and it was easy for him to imagine four stars close by to be a pair of chopsticks, another group of stars had the shape of the Hokage Hat and other had the shape of Tora the cat… he fucking hated that particular group of stars.

One time the devil that took shape of a cat scratched his face so the marks of its claws combined with his whisker marks looked like a tic-tac-toe and Sakura-chan asked Sasuke if he wanted to play with her…

And the bastard said yes!

What followed was a game of tag… it was fun but it didn't lasted long because Sasuke lost interest quickly, but it was probably one of the funniest moments he had with team seven.

Fu walked close to him and sat down a meter away from him, it was strange.

Usually she is still mad at him after Jiraiya's lectures and it usually takes as long as to the next day for her to calm down from their dodge exercise were many 'accidents' happened. In his defense only about half of them were intentional and worst, they happened so fast he never got a feeling he could remember.

"Can you watch the stars like this on Konoha?"

He turned his head to watch her sitting with her head looking upwards towards the sky and he felt happy, so far it was him doing all the talk about the things he liked in Konoha, the things he wanted to show her but she never asked anything specific about the village. He knew she was afraid of the village getting her biju extracted but he knew that grandma Tsunade would never allow it.

"Not really, there are too many lights and you can only see a few stars" it was a shame, but you can't really see that many stars in Konoha's night sky.

"You know, you always talk to me about the things to see in Konoha, but never tell me about the people…" she paused as if she was realizing something just now "You never tell me about your friends or your team".

"They are all cool, Shikamaru is the laziest smart person I know, Chouji it's a good guy just never call him fat" he chuckled at that, the F word was taboo in front of an Akimichi "Ino its real bossy but I guess she has to be to get Shikamaru to do anything. Then there is Kiba who thinks he is Konoha's Top Dog" he said quoting his Inuzuka friend "Hinata who is really weird and shy, but she is really strong too" She had to be, any other kunoichi wouldn't have lasted half as long as she did fighting Neji "Shino… you would actually like Shino I guess, he loves bugs" it was something Fu could look forward to.

"There is Neji… he's got a stick up his ass" he looked at her and could tell she understood, Neji is a prodigy "but he is nice enough, there is Rock Lee, he is the most reliable person you can find but he has the second bushiest brows in the world" he wasn't kidding, that was the truth in his opinion "and then there is that girl… she uses her hair in buns.."

"You don't remember her name, do you?"

"I'll remember her name other time" it was annoying to have forgotten that name, Jiraiya made fun of it because of it as well, he will have to write it down once he remembers.

"What about your team?"

"I think it's your turn to tell me about your team!" he said playfully.

"I never had a team, I think I went on missions out of Taki like five times and it was always with two jonins, they were never the same jonins either, come on tell me about your team"

She got closer to him and laid on her back looking at the stars and waiting for him to speak and he could look at her boobs slowly rising and falling with her breath and he could not do anything but to stare.

"Come on what about your team!" she spoke again making him realize he stared for too long, at least he was lucky this time and she didn't noticed.

Turning his eyes back to the stars he started talking before he started looking again and risk getting caught this close to her, it could be a painful experience "Sasuke was always brooding and/or training, he never talked much to me or Sakura-chan but we were friends, you could tell he cared for us"

"Why did he left?"

She stopped looking at the stars and rotated her head so she could look at him, he could understand her particular interest on Sasuke since he told her he left the village, but their motives couldn't be more different, he rotated his head as well and found himself staring into those magnificent orange eyes, in his opinion they were perfect, they were just so… orange.

He closed his own eyes to stop from staring too long on them again and to stop his gaze from wandering towards other regions of her person.

"His full name is Uchiha Sasuke" he said letting it sink, he remembers that even Zabuza heard about Uchiha massacre, Fu probably did as well.

"He was the last Uchiha?" he was right then, she did heard about it.

"Yes, his goal in life it's to kill his brother… we found his brother once, and it wasn't pretty" far from it, it was terrifying to watch your best friend get beaten to an inch of his life by his older brother while you have an S-class missing nin pointing his blade at you.

"You found Uchiha Itachi!"

"Yeah, he did something to Sasuke, Jiraiya says it was a genjutsu, it knocked Sasuke out cold and it took grandma Tsunade to wake him up… after that he fled looking for Orochimaru… so he could get stronger"

"So he is a traitor" she said with disgust, from her perspective it must look like that, but Naruto just couldn't bring himself to think that way. He didn't knew how to defend Sasuke, so he didn't, he just remained silently watching the stars.

"What about the girl? Sakura-chan?"

Oh right! He forgot to tell her about her… except… he didn't really wanted to talk about her, it was painful to remember he no longer can fulfill his promise to her… but he also wanted to get Fu to like his other teammate "Sakura-chan has pink hair, she is really smart… I used to have a crush on her…"

"Used to, you don't like her anymore?" this was the most exalted Fu has been since this morning when she told Jiraiya he couldn't have a pheasant because he was the last to wake up.

He wasn't crushing on Sakura-chan anymore? He didn't realized he said it until she asked. But it could be because he knew that she would probably be really upset when he tells her he can't help her find Sasuke actively unless it is an order from Tsunade, he couldn't even ask Tsunade for a mission to look for Sasuke and Jiraiya probably told her about their bet already.

"I don't think she will ever like me back" he said unable to contain the sadness in his voice.

"It's ok, I know how it feels" she said putting her hand on his shoulder and smiling at him.

She was a jinchuriki like him, of course she would know what it is to know that probably no one will ever like you because of you have sealed inside of you, she could understand.

He smiled back at her feeling much more at ease now.

0x0x0

Jiraiya looked at his current students laying on the ground talking while stargazing and she couldn't help but smile when Fu put her hand on Naruto's shoulder.

She was being smart about this, she must take this slow and make her moves carefully, she must avoid him noticing anything…

She would let the girl play her seductress games and let her think it was her idea.

The truth is that he had waited nearly a month for Naruto to show her the necklace of the First and tell her about its curse because he could not bring the topic himself.

He needed her to realize that Tsunade has Naruto's back and acknowledge that Naruto can really become Hokage at some point. And that was all she needed to know to begin making her moves towards the blond.

The only way she could live in Konoha without fear being killed for her biju was if she had someone important enough watching for her… and she knew that the status that came from being his student wouldn't protect her forever.

She needs to be close to the Hokage to guarantee her survival after the business with the Akatsuki are over. By seducing Naruto before he reaches his goal she would avoid raising suspicions and guarantee her life and live a comfortable life afterwards.

But there was a flaw in her plans.

They aren't really hers.

Training a person to perform such a seduction prowess takes years of dedicated and specialized studies for he agent not to end up with feelings of its own towards the target.

And she doesn't have the knowledge nor the training to avoid it.

She will eventually fall in love with Naruto as much as Naruto will fall in love with her and she would have no choice but to care for the village he loves and houses their children.

His only regret today was not getting a damn pheasant!

 **A/N: this is my take on the ninja world!**


	14. Training

'Sometimes getting better sucks'

That was what Naruto thought while dodging three small rocks with a single step and contorting his body slightly. On his back Fu mimicked his movements avoiding the rocks as well.

They were standing on what they called the dodging circle skillfully avoiding the projectiles Jiraiya sent towards them, no longer they would collide with each other and the amount of accidents decreased greatly.

A whole year has passed since his trip with Jiraiya started, around six months since Fu joined Konoha and started travelling with them, and those were some good six months.

The former Taki Kunoichi certainly made things livelier for them and decreased the number of chores he does in the camp, sadly, he misses hunting a bit, and there was a certain thrill in running after his pray and catching it with your own two hands… Fu just used a kunai… her loss.

They have been training in the wild for a month now after their last excursion to a town to resupply on some health care items that Fu needed, she never said what they were but Jiraiya was happy to comply and extended the small trip into an urban training exercise… meaning he was sent to spy on the bathhouses again.

Fu got another kind of training, it basically consisted on discovering his own hiding spots.

Every time she succeeded he suffered for it, she was practically a sensor with the help of her Bug Society as she liked to call it. Jiraiya thought it was hilarious as always but Naruto persisted, he was somewhat used to failure, so he saw no reason to give up and always tried his hardest.

The first couple of times she found him she threw him to the lions in a Jiraiya like way, but at least he managed to convince her that he was doing it on orders from Jiraiya.

Now Fu also calls Jiraiya Pervy sage, ero-sennin or his own favorite, ero-sensei. That didn't mean she was any less angry at him for not resisting his orders like she thought he should, he tried to explain he was bound by his words but she retorted that it was a convenient excuse.

He tried to make up to her with loads of ramen… but it didn't worked, the girl was just plain weird sometimes.

Remembering how he made it up to her the first time he brought her a book and that seemed to do the trick for she was too busy reading to pay him attention… he even lasted longer while doing his sensei's "research" he suspected it was because she was secretly reading her book.

He brought her more books but didn't immediately gave them to her… they were reserved for future apologies… kami knows he'll have to apologize with the crazy orders Jiraiya gives him sometimes.

Her face when Jiraiya ordered her to do the research and let him do the searching was so worth it!

He was no were near as fast locating her as she was locating him, but it was still oh so satisfying to catch her…

On a totally unrelated event he wetted the bed that night… with the white semen stuff after a pleasant dream involving Fu and the women she was spying.

Jiraiya laughed so bad that he became red when he noticed… but at least he never commented on it while in front of Fu. Jiraiya called it an "accident of puberty"

It was nice to know that there were certain lines the old man wouldn't cross, but he was careful to replace the bed sheet and flip the mattress before the old man noticed the second time it happened after a similar dream involving Fu again…

Fu brought a book of her own after the first time he located her and gifted it to him… it took him a week to read it and she kept asking him if he was done with it… if she wanted to read it too she should have not gifted it to him in the first place, not everyone likes to spend every second of their free time with their nooses buried in books!

At least it was nice to talk with her about the book they both read, it made him happy to have more things to talk about with her.

While in town Jiraiya also introduced both of them to a game called ping-pong, the game was nice enough to keep from letting their reflexes dull while in town and it was alwas nice to see the civies pick up their jaws from the floor after they were done with their games.

He read thru the Fuinjutsu scroll Jiraiya gave him in Taki, the damn boring thing, so he received another scroll on the art, with more rules and the same warnings over and over and over again, he couldn't understand why Jiraiya insisted so much on him learning the art.

He tried to give Fu his first scroll so she could study it but she didn't wanted to learn about seals for some reasons and Jiraiya did not insist on her reading the scroll.

So he was stuck reading the same warnings and learning what little he could from the scroll.

0x0x0

Fu could say she was happy training and traveling with her master and fellow student, she felt satisfied with her progress so far.

Sitting close to the fire in the night while Jiraiya fixes supper was the closest thing to a free day she and Naruto have, but that it's not exactly a bad thing considering what they will have to face in the future.

Jiraiya cooked for them no more than twice a month but he was adamant that she should cook for him and Naruto twice a week, that was fine for her, cooking is a skill that must be maintained with practice after all.

Her survival project is going well enough too.

She was no seductress like Naoko and Akane but she considered she was doing a good work getting closer to Naruto.

Of course it could just be all those romance books she read back on Taki and she could be doing a horrible work… but she didn't liked to think about this matter like that.

In the more realistic stories she read the strongest love is not the one people calls "Love at first sight" but the ones that have its foundation's build on friendship and mutual respect.

That was what she was aiming for. She wanted Naruto to fall for her and their relationship to be strong enough to pass the test of time, for she wants a long life.

She watched her new seal on her arm and felt happy with it. an anti-pregnancy seal that Jiraiya-sensei gave her to stop her monthly visitor, having to town to resupply on hygienic products was so humiliating, she felt so guilty for stopping their training but with this she could go up to eleven months without risk but sensei warned it was better to remove it on the tenth, allow her visitor to come twice and re-apply the seal.

Apparently it was unhealthy to go keep the seal all the time, sensei didn't explain why but she just accepted it as a fact of life.

The seal would also be useful later, if her plan it's successful… she doesn't like to think about the necessity of being intimate with Naruto in the future.

Anyway, the trip to the town wasn't a waste of time either, it was embarrassing, but not a waste of time, she made progress in both her training and project and gained free book out of it.

When she gave a book to Naruto he looked at her as if she had grown a second head, the male jinchuriki never considered reading as a hobby but was considerate enough to accept the gift, and after some pressure she had someone to share her thoughts on the story she read, it was close to heaven.

Being on a town where no one knows what you are and treat you like a normal person was something she had forgotten, but it was a welcome change from what she was used on Taki.

How long will it last on Konoha?

That was something she dreaded to discover.

Today, as always she gave it her all in her training and she could tell her taijutsu was better than ever with her speed greatly increased and her reflexes becoming near instantaneous, she wanted to learn some ninjutsu but she wasn't greedy enough to ask for it, she would be a good little girl and do as she is told, and excel at it… and make sure Naruto does as well.

Come to think of it, Naruto it's always bickering with sensei, but he never actually argues with him when it's a training related topic, she would call him the teacher's pet but she wasn't exactly in a position to tease the blond about it.

Watching the blond now sitting by the fire with his Fuinjutsu scroll she feels relieved to have dodged that bullet.

There is a reason why she doesn't want to study that particular ninja art, her being knowledgeable in it would cause trust issues for certain people… but to be honest, the face of utter boredom on her fellow jinchuriki also played a big part on her decision to stay away from it.

She had come to really like the blond as a friend too, it helped that the "Accidents" while doing their dodge exercise have all but stopped, she feels a bit guilty for the times she punished him in the past, perhaps they were just accidents after all.

She would have ask him sometime in the future.

"Dinner is ready" called Jiraiya, it was a simple deer stew along with a few wild roots but whatever the sannin cooked usually was better tasting than whatever she or Naruto could prepare.

Naruto threw his scroll aside with gusto, it infuriated Jiraiya the way the blond would make it so obvious that he'd rather do anything else than reading the scroll of boredom, she suspected it was a passive way of getting back at their sensei for making him read that stuff.

The times when Jiraiya cooked also doubled as etiquette lessons and if she or Naruto were anything but polite and failed to follow the rules set by their master they would pay with their food.

Jiraiya would take their food away and leave them starving until the morning, it was an effective way to encourage them to behave.

The lectures Jiraiya gave them also varied on this night, he would not tell them about tactics, strategies or the best ways to avoid using henge to disguise themselves in potential hostile areas.

On this nights he would tell them about the balls, feast or tea ceremonies he's been forced to attend and stress the importance of manners, it would not due you any good to offend a man who can put bounty on your head just because something you said or did on the table.

Nobility in the elemental nations was notoriously vindictive and would pay fortunes for protection or assassination over whatever was said when they mingled with each other.

"One of the most dangerous activities in nobility affairs is dancing… ask the wrong lady for a dance and you could be putting a bounty on your head, decline and you could be losing a costumer, dance too close or too far to your partner and you have the same problems… it's something most ninja dread, but it's something all the Kages learn about so stop scowling kid and pay attention!" she turned to Naruto who now had a perfect mask of concentration, he would go to any lengths to learn anything Jiraiya taught that was related to his dream.

"I wasn't scowling" the blond defended himself, but she could tell he was, he struggled to keep his attention with anything non-combat related, it's probably a boys thing.

"Now come on, I'll teach you to dance kid" Jiraiya said while getting a few papers from his pockets and setting them on the ground in certain patterns they all had certain numbers written on it, 1, 2 and three.

Jiraiya motioned the blond to come closer to him until they were a few centimeters away from each other, with Jiraiya towering over the blond by at least three heads he put one hand on his waist and other on his shoulder.

"Hey, what's the deal old man!?" Naruto roared at the unexpected physical contact and pushing himself away from their master, she could not help but to smile, she recognized the pattern of the papers set on the ground and position Jiraiya tried to take, it was a simple yet elegant dance she read about a few times.

"It's how you dance kid, I'm going to show you how to guide and then you and Fu will practice together" the sage said in a matter of fact way that allowed for not come backs, they were going to do this… and it was going to be uncomfortable for the blond.

As Jiraiya guided Naruto and explained the details while sometimes humming the rhythm, the blond seemed to be a few seconds away from throwing his dinner at their teacher's feet.

After five minutes they exchanged roles to allow Naruto to guide. She was having so much fun just watching the awkwardness of everything the blond did 'It's kind of cute'

"Fu come here, it's your turn".

She wanted to try this, it was something she always read about and the books always described as something magical that bounded couples for life.

While Jiraiya explained the details of the matter Naruto put his hands on her shoulder and waist on an unexpected skin to skin contact due to her choice of clothing, she could feel his callused hands against her skin, she forgot when was the last time she felt the skin of another human on her without it hurting, but it was nice all the same Jiraiya started the rhythm again and she followed the patterns with her feet and corrected her posture as Jiraiya instructed her, however as they started to spin around she could feel the blond's hand on her waist slowly slip down to her hip in an inappropriate way, she immediately pushed Naruto away glaring daggers at the pervert… this was supposed to be magical and Naruto had to ruin it!

"What's the matter Fu?" the sannin asked calmly but he was certainly amused.

"The pervert tried to touch me!" she said while pointing at the blond furious with him, she had trusted Naruto would take this as seriously as she did and he tried to take advantage of her.

Sighting her master reprimanded the blond "Naruto, this is not only your dance partner but your teammate as well, you must show her the respect she deserves!"

She smiled watching the blond look away and mutter an apology to her, she was about to press for a better more convincing one when her sensei talked again "And Fu I'm sorry to tell you this but many noble men think of kunoichi as trained whores, and they would try far worse than what Naruto just did. I'll teach you how to use killer intent to keep them at bay… but some may just not give up. Now start over again, and Naruto keep your hands in heck, I know how much you like Fu but abusing her trust won't do you any favors"

She could feel her face warming at her masters words and she felt a confidence boost when Naruto just looked away trying to avoid eye contact, it was convenient that he felt attracted to her, she smiled and warned him to keep his hands where they were supposed to be.

She would try to encourage this in the future, right now she was supposed to be upset.

Everything was going according to her plans

0x0x0

The rainy season is coming and soon he would lead his student to the south to save himself and his students from the worst of it this year, next year he would see to them experience it on the fullest, for now they were focusing on building their bodies and minds for the dangers looming on the horizons.

Naruto's speed was always increasing and his reaction times always going down and nothing could make him feel gladder for it, he made the right call on his training.

Fu on the other hand, her speed increased as well but she was not naturally build for this kind of fighting and after the initial gains the gap between her and Naruto started to increase again and she was losing more and more spars with the blond, only her reflexes kept her on the fight most of times.

He will have to devise a new training schedule for her, maybe ninjutsu or considering she already knows Taki's signature jutsu he could focus on her kenjutsu most likely, the girl had good chakra control but she was no genjutsu material.

He remembered the wings her jinchuriki cloak grants her, maybe he could start the foundations to make her a long range combatant as well, very few shinobis in the continent can attack from the sky and it certainly gives them all a certain advantage.

Testing her affinities will be necessary for that, good thing he got a few chakra papers form Shibuki back on Taki. Sighting he realized that depending on the affinities of his students he might need to request jutsu scrolls from Tsunade, he knew very little about lighting and wind types, he would be a poor teacher on that front.

It was one of the few times he was glad Minato was a genius, he absolutely destroyed his affinity training even if he was better at shape manipulation, it was little surprise that Naruto showed similar talent on it, learning the Rasengan in such short time was awe inspiring, not to mention the Shadow Clone Jutsu in one night…

His onetime favorite jutsu seemed a lot less impressive with how little he was using it lately, rarely summoning more than ten for any given reason and when asked why the sudden change he simply said that calling on too many of them they would get on his way more than helping.

The blond was becoming more and more reliant on his speed on his tactics and strategies, it isn't necessarily a bad thing… but it isn't all that good either, he would have to teach Fu a lesson on how to take down an opponent much faster than yourself soon, it will be good to humble the boy a notch, besides it will be fun to see her grappling Naruto.

He cooked for his students twice a month to teach some manners to Naruto, he would need them one time or another, when he grows up people will no longer condone his poor table habits.

He also talked about non shinobi stuff on those nights, nobility events and affairs to entertain them, but mostly because he has a schedule to maintain, in approximately two years they will have to go back to Konoha and Fu will enter an observation period to show her loyalty to Konoha, but there will also be an internal fighting within the village higher hierarchy, they will all try to ascertain their authority over her, it would be inconvenient to have her join the Foundation of Konoha ranks, or be subjugated to one of the clans, he could see the Hyuga and the Aburame Clan trying to gain control of her.

He was trying to make her loyal to Konoha and make it clear she is under the authority of the Hokage.

It was clear to every high ranking member of Konoha that Tsunade had the unquestionable loyalty of Naruto which made things easier for her in the village.

Fu was a game changer in the inner politics and power distribution on the village, it was for the best to make it clear that she is also an asset under the Hokage's control, it would stabilize her power.

There was a few ways for the other high ranking shinobis in Konoha to try and sway the girl under their banner gifts: favors and seduction would be the first they try, if/when that fails, Danzo it's sure to try to re-educate her.

The easiest way to prevent this was making sure that she and Naruto become lovers before rejoining the village and making sure everyone knows of this.

The clans favors and gifts will have to take in consideration her relationship with the blond and any attempts to seduce her would be less likely to succeed.

And she would be in the public eye to make it dangerous for Danzo to make his move, it worked with Kushina and Minato in the past it should work with his students this time as well.

Building intimacy will be easy enough with a few dance lessons and Fu's willingness to participate in this exercises for her own prolonged survival.

Manipulating Naruto left a sour taste on his mouth, but he honestly believed this would be the best for his godson.

It's not that he believed the blond would be unable to find a girl on his own, but the fact that while in Konoha he only had eyes for his teammate, a girl he admitted was in love with another and the fact that the other options he has back in Konoha are potentially dangerous or wouldn't help him on his campaign to become Hokage.

A clan-less girl would be of no help politically speaking, a Hyuga girl would be a blessing but he would be tied to the clan in some unfavorable ways, any children he has could be branded with the curse seal and be used against him in the future unless he is already Hokage by the time he fathers his first child, and it was unlikely, Naruto was ten years too young to become Hokage and if he knows Tsunade well enough he will become a father in six or five years.

Any of the other clans simply hold no weight to help him climb the political ladder, Naras, Akimichis, Yamanakas, Aburames and Inuzukas are all respected but they aren't influential enough to make any difference…

The Sarutobis don't have any single girl available.

Fu is a military asset and having her back him up will help his climb easier, it certainly helped Minato to have the Jinchuriki of the village on his side.

He will have to have another talk with Naruto soon to… tone down his pervertness, as much as it pained him to admit it, the blond doesn't need that kind of reputation and it'll smooth things with Fu as well, showing concern for her wellbeing will only make her more loyal to him and Konoha.


	15. Manipulations

Last night was the best Jiraiya's turn at cooking he could remember, sure it was awkward and scary when his teacher taught him to dance.

But when he danced with Fu it felt just right, he could feel the soft smooth skin on her shoulder and waist having her so close that the only thing he could see where those perfect orange eyes, but then his hand slipped to her hips and she pushed him away.

Jiraiya of all people told him to respect her, he apologized of course, it wasn't something intentional, or he hoped so…

In any case, it bothered Naruto the warning his teacher gave Fu, the fact that there were men out there that would treat Fu like a whore made him mad, he may like to touch Fu when it was possible, to pretend it was an accident and accept the consequences, but those other men just expected to get away with it!

One more thing Jiraiya said though… did he really liked Fu?

She was fun to be around and to train with, she had a nice body, and orange eyes!

She gets mad easily and ignores him and Jiraiya whenever she gets her hands on a new book, she gets to hunt more than him.

Of course she gets mad when he does something stupid or there is an "accident" but so far he classified that as normal female behavior.

He decided to think about that later, yesterday he enjoyed the rest of the ten minutes dance he shared with her and did his best to keep his hands where they were supposed to be at all times and discovered it was fun!

After that Jiraiya sent them both to sleep.

When he woke up Jiraiya was surprisingly awake as well, there was something wrong about it he just knew that!

He sent Fu to hunt even if today was his turn and he gave her a strange look and she just nodded and went to get their breakfast just as their master ordered.

"What's up old man? Today was my turn to go hunting!" he reminded him, it was not like he didn't liked to cook, he was getting good at it in fact, but hunting was still more fun.

"I wanted to talk to you alone Naruto."

"Huh?" this was the first time Jiraiya actually wants to talk to him alone, other embarrassing stuff that tend to happen to him are shared and exploited or are too shameful to be distributed… so yea this will probably be embarrassing.

"The question is… Naruto… you need to learn about control and respect" his master said it in a calm way, trying to convey the message without misunderstandings.

"What do you mean?" ok, so it wasn't embarrassing this far, it sounded more like something Jiraiya would say: important to become Hokage. And Naruto liked to learn that stuff… even if it was boring "Is this Hokage-Needs-To-Know-Stuff?"

"It is Everyone-Needs-To-Know-Stuff Naruto" Jiraiya said while sitting and signaling to Naruto to do the same "But I Suppose it is more important for the Hokage. I'll be direct: this is about yesterday during the dancing lessons"

"I already said it was sorry!" Naruto pointed out, and she accepted his apology… more or less

"I know kid, but I know you would do it again"

"That's not true!"

"Of course it is, do you think I never noticed all those 'accidents' on the dodging ring!?" it was as if a bucked of cold water was dropped on him, so the old pervert had noticed that, he couldn't reply to that.

"Look kid, as I told you before, a lot of this has to do with your age, and I know I have been encouraging you to look at women like the kami's gift to men that they are, but there is a line kid, a line you crossed yesterday" there was a lot of disapproval in Jiraiya's voice, it was almost as if he was talking to one of the villagers back at Konoha, and it really hurted him coming from his teacher.

"What do you mean?" he asked shyly, at the moment he was scared to have made Jiraiya ashamed of him.

"I mean that you can look all that you want, appreciate the beauty of a woman, of all of them, but you CANNOT touch without their consent" he could feel himself shrinking under the white haired man glare and he felt self-conscious of his actions.

'Was it really that bad?'

"You need to understand Naruto, kunoichis… women are different than us men, not weaker or any less intelligent… just different, not only their bodies, but also their minds… I cannot tell you everything that's going on in their heads but there is something I know and you need to learn: Touching it's a privilege they allow to only one man at a time, it is a sign of trust, and you abused that trust yesterday"

He was looking at the ground avoiding looking at Jiraiya knowing his master was trying to prove a point, the problem was not that he didn't understood, because he did. No the problem was that he liked the feeling of Fu on his hands, agreeing would be forfeiting any future chance to get that sensation again.

The sage sighted when Naruto's silence extended too far and the blond knew he was about to hear more about how it is wrong to touch Fu and he should not do it.

"You really don't want to stop"

He looked up to see Jiraiya smiling at him with something akin to pride but he couldn't be sure, this was getting confusing again.

"You like her and you don't want to stop, but Naruto Fu is not like any other girl you will meet, she is your teammate and my student and I will not tolerate any further disrespect!" despite saying the last part with passion Jiraiya was still smiling "But if you really, _really_ like her do things the right way and be patient, ask her out and see if things will work out or not, don't rush it you idiot."

"Why would she want to go out with me?" the blond asked in a quiet sad voice.

"Don't ask me, that's for her to decide" his master seemed to think this was a simple matter, but he knows better… all the times Sakura-chan rejected him, there must be a reason for it, right?

"I'm serious!"

"Oh kid, you really afraid to be turned down?"

Naruto looked at his master trying to deny his words, he was Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage, he was afraid of nothing… except he could not, words refused to come out of his mouth and all he could do was look at his master with despair.

"That's worse than I thought it would be" Jiraiya said while his face changed from a teasing expression to one of support and understanding "Why are you so afraid? The girl still let you dance with her for the rest of the lesson, just ask her and keep your hands to yourself, get to know her better and see if it can work or not"

"Sure, where should I take her in the middle of the forest?" Naruto asked sarcastically, it was much easier than explained why she would turn him down.

"Be creative because we won't be going to any town until next month"

"You are not making things easier you know?"

"This things are never easy to get started, never among real shinobi, but someone has to give the first step"

"But why must I give the first step" Naruto asked defensibly and nervous, it never worked when he was in the academy nor when he was part of team seven, why should it work now?

"Because you have troubles controlling your hands around her" Jiraiya accused him again and he flinched, it was true "The worst that can happen is that she says 'No' and you will remain friends and teammates… like Tsunade and me" he didn't know if Jiraiya really asked Tsunade out or not, but they remain friends to this day and even if her appearance was fake, she certainly looked like a woman his master would pursue.

"I still don't know what to do in the middle of a forest… there are no ramen stands to go or anything" he explained accepting at the same time it would have to be him to give the first step.

"If you are going to ask her for a date I'll give you one more advice kid, try something you both enjoy and if you can't think of anything like that, try something she would enjoy, at least for the first time"

Naruto just nodded wondering exactly how he ended up having to ask for a date in the middle of the forest.

0x0x0

Fu's morning started in a very strange and unexpected way, being wake up by her master was a first since the man enjoyed sleeping as much as he did drinking sake.

He shook her shoulder gently until she stirred from her slumber and with a finger on his lips commanded her to be silent, she only nodded in response, he stood up and walked a few meters away from the camp, away from Naruto's ears and he finally spoke in a whisper.

He apologized for Naruto's behavior and assumed part of the fault of it himself, he was the blond's master, and it was his responsibility to make sure he stays in line.

The man didn't mention anything about ordering Naruto to spy on women as an important factor in any way shape or form, but she knew it was, maybe that was why he felt obliged to put a stop to what he called "harassment".

Putting his hands on her shoulders he looked onto her eyes and ordered to go hunting and to take her time with it so he could talk with Naruto.

She felt touched and worried with this development, it was nice that her master acknowledge she needed to be respected as a person and as a kunoichi, but it was also concerning, what if her master undoes all her progress seducing the blond? What if he makes the future Hokage stop liking her?

She dreaded her master's talk with her fellow student for there was so much that could go wrong.

Unable to stop herself she left a small beetle to spy for her, it was a new species she was trying to harness after losing her old colony on her fight with Naruto back when they both used their biju's chakra, this species was did not had the same tracking capabilities as the one she found on Taki but it was a bit more intelligent and could transmit clearer images and sounds to her, with time and correct breeding, not to mention the Nanabi's chakra, they could become even better than her former allies.

She stayed away from the talking pair but it was close enough for her to listen thanks to her little friend she could listen to them: she listened Jiraiya talk about Naruto's age and how he noticed girls now, how he crossed a line while they were dancing and how he needs to respect his teammate and generally told him to keep his hands off her.

She was moved by her sensei support, she half expected the man to congratulate Naruto for his efforts, and considering the man's vices it wasn't too farfetched.

She was also moved by the way Jiraiya advised Naruto to ask her for a date, it was in a way fatherly.

And it also made her feel better about her situation with Konoha… in fact for this was the first time she was looking forward to her life on the great hidden village, she has some support from her sensei, if everything goes well she may have Naruto wrapped around her finger before they go home.

If she manages to make a good impression on the Hokage she may have time to formalize her relationship with her blond.

The only thing she is not one hundred per cent sure is Naruto's chance to become Hokage, not to mention that it's very difficult to calculate how long a kage will reign, the fourth Hokage being one of the shortest recorded and it lasted only around one year.

Tsunade could wear her robes for two decades easily, it was way too long for her comfort… and it was that kind of thinking that would get her biju extracted as soon as it was safe 'Dammit.'

Perhaps it would be safer to say that a new younger Hokage it's needed to maintain the prosperity of the village like the Third Lord Hokage did… yea, that's a safer way to voice her concern.

Regardless, the passing of time was on her favor for now, she and specially Naruto need to grow in power as fast as possible.

Building a relationship while training could be detrimental, but perhaps agreeing with dates in exchange for milestones on their training would provide Naruto some incentive…

Her beetles were taking longer than expected to locate preys for her, not that she was in any hurry but Jiraiya started talking how it is ok to look as long as you don't touch… her sensei was a bad influence on her future lover.

It's better to hurry and see if Naruto was ready to ask her for a date or not before her sensei does too much damage.

0x0x0

Jiraiya was having a good day, he convinced Naruto to pursue Fu romantically, got Fu to listen the entire talk and got pheasant for breakfast.

He will have to remind his student about the dangers of misinformation sometime in the future, not soon though, not after he used it to manipulate her and Naruto.

Naruto's guilt was easily visible and Fu was acting more wary of her teammate as if she were suspecting he would try to get a feeling on her again making Naruto feel even guiltier.

He sent Naruto to do his speed training thinking that soon the boy will be ready for the next level: resistance seals, that's why it is so important for the brat to at least grasp the basics of Fuinjutsu, so he actually use them.

The use of such seals it's restricted not due to the small pool of seal masters available in the continent, but because activating and deactivating them it's relatively easy to perform, easily enough to be activated by an enemy.

More than once this seals had cost their users their lives since they are easily identifiable as well, blindingly fast shinobis forced to walk at a snail pace with a single hand seal and a minimal amount of chakra.

To prevent this Jiraiya designed his seals to be activated with carefully applied chakra in certain symbols distributed on all the set, doing this requires a higher than average knowledge on Fuinjutsu, considering that soon the blond will be facing S-class foes he planned on creating a set of seals that only he and his student can turn on and off.

If only the kid were more interested Fuinjutsu it would make things progress faster. But it was not to be, the blond finds it either too difficult or to boring to put some serious effort into it.

Fu was about to join Naruto on the river when he called for her, he has additional moves to teach her today, grappling moves.

She would have to use the time she used for speed training but it may be for the best, she may never be the fastest ninja alive but she would be able to fight in the same league.

0x0x0

Naruto felt a bit betrayed by Jiraiya, he separated him from Fu all day today, and he was teaching her new things while he was stuck with the same old training routine.

He forced the sudden pang of jealousy down, he has been training with his teacher for far longer than Fu, and it's only fair to give her some extra training since she joined recently, its fair.

At least he would admit the new lessons were not helping the kunoichi much on their current spar, she seemed to hesitate more and miss a few counterattack opportunities she would have exploited yesterday.

Maybe she was having trouble adapting her new stances on her style?

It had to be, she has an eye half closed from when one of his punches landed there, he was not aiming for her eye, it just happened.

"Stop!" Jiraiya finally stopped the spar much to his relief, normally he would have fun sparring with his teammate because she is good at taijutsu but today she seemed to be having a bad day or something.

Both separated and gave each other a nod of the head, no hard feelings after the spar, it was important to always do that to keep camaraderie, win or lose there must always be respect… Sasuke never really respected him, not the way Fu does.

For all her other qualities Sakura wasn't much of a fighter and he never really tried when sparring with her, they barely sparred anyway. After training and missions she would reject his invitations to a date and try her own luck with Sasuke, she never stayed in the training grounds more than what was expected of her, she would always go back home with her family, that's something he always felt envious, she had parents that cared for her and it was only natural that she would spend her free time with them, last time they talked she told him Tsunade accepted her as her apprentice and he was happy for her, maybe she won't need his help to bring Sasuke back if she trains hard enough.

Jiraiya was asking Fu something about timing, probably related to her new stances and she was replying affirmatively saying it was much harder than she expected and Jiraiya told her to keep trying, then their master looked at him expectantly, right he was supposed to get rejected by Fu.

"Fu-chan?" the problem was how to start talking about this, from his experience with Sakura-chan asking out of the blue is not the way to go.

"Naruto?" she replied looking at him curiously with that funny half open eye that would be completely normal in a few hours.

"I wanted to apologize" he said remembering what started this whole thing in the first place, his wandering hands have become a problem "And, you know, make it up to you" he said remembering getting a few extra books last time he was in a town for the specific purpose of apologizing to his teammate, he ran to his bag in the camp as fast as he could and fished one the books he kept in there and ran back to her presenting her the book and bending his waist to show how sorry he was.

But Fu did not took the book from his hands like the last time, she was looking at him with a frown.

"Naruto, if you keep giving me books every time you do _that_ kind of stuff it'll start to feel like I'm a whore and you are paying me with books, please stop!"

She looked hurt!

He never intended for her to feel that way, this was bad, he didn't wanted her to feel that way!

"Look, it's not like that it's just that I got a few books last time we were on a city because I knew I would do something stupid and I just wanted to have something ready to apologize since we spend so much time in the wild!" he explained, it was never really his intention to just use the books as a trade in for apologies, it just seemed practical at the time.

"So you are really sorry about yesterday?" she asked looking at the book on his hand with interest, reading the cover, it seemed he would be able to use the books one last time at least.

"Yes, I am" he said again smiling and presenting her the book again, but she still wouldn't take it from him, he was getting nervous, at this rate he could forget asking for that date anytime soon.

"If you really are sorry you will read that book with me" he raised his head and looked at her smiling face and mischievous orange eyes, he knew how fast she reads and how she devours any new book that comes into her possession… but what other choice does he has?

"Oooookay" he complies, of course he does, how to say no to those orange eyes? 'Oh shit! Maybe I really like her?'

"Ok then, tonight after sensei's lecture and your done with your Fuinjutsu we read this together!"

"But, how are we supposed to read the same book together? We read out loud or something?" Naruto asked afraid looking stupid, but he's never done this kind of thing before, so he has no idea how they are supposed to do it.

"It could work… maybe if we take turns by chapters?" he smiled noticing that Fu doesn't know how to either, this seemed like a good time to talk to her about that date so he did.

"Hey Fu-chan?"

"Want to talk about something else? Ero-sennin it's waiting" she pointed at Jiraiya who was ready to start their dodge exercise.

"Yes, you don't have to but if you want next time we are on a town would you like to go out on a date with me?" he asked while looking at his feet and preparing himself to be rejected.

"Sure! Now let's go sensei its waiting!" she said while running ahead to the where Jiraiya waited for them, he couldn't be sure but her ears seemed to be redder than usual.

He stood there for a couple seconds more just assimilating that he was not in fact, rejected and he does have a date with the pretty kunoichi from Taki.

Then he ran towards Jiraiya faster than ever before the pounding on his chest fuelling every step he took.

 **N/A: took me longer to update this time, life got in the middle I guess anyway hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

 **Read and review**


	16. Tickles

Jiraiya was watching his students in front of each other both looking at the same book, Naruto was reading out loud while Fu listened every word that came out if his mouth.

They had taken to that particular activity for the last three weeks, things started awkward between them, it was natural considering that this was the first thing they did together after Naruto asked Fu for a date next time they go to a town.

They were not officially dating for they have not gone out in a date yet, but that will be just a label they will add to their relationship after the date happens, they were already spending more time together and more importantly they were talking more to each other.

Most of the time it was Naruto who did the talking, he tried to talk about anything and everything trying to get Fu engaged with some topic or another but Fu also put more effort into listening to what Naruto talked about she would no longer just listen and would interrupt the male jinchuriki to ask a question or to correct him or just to disagree.

The few times Fu started the talking it would always be about some book she read, about how the characters would behave and react given their circumstances or about the fantastic scenarios the stories took place or she would talk about the ideals of the heroes and the goals of the villains.

They both had limited human interaction on their lives, and while it's true that Naruto had more of it the quality of his interactions was poor at best, often Jiraiya was amazed by how well Naruto turned out with such severe conditions, however there is something Naruto never was exposed to and it was couple behavior, all of Naruto's precious people were either too young to have a couple or just single in the case of Kakashi or his academy instructor, so when he tried some form of contact with Fu he would end up being pushed away sometimes gently and others in haste depending on what he tried, there were exceptions and sometimes the girl would allow contact like simply holding hands or a tap on her shoulders. The blond was learning with trial and error and it seemed to be working for the most part.

Fu however, based her knowledge of how couples conduct themselves more on the characters of her books than real people so her ideas of how couples behave were mostly idealized and unrealistic, he was not sure how she catalogued herself and Naruto, what type of characters they were?

Was she a heroin? A seductress? A manipulator mastermind? Or a conspirator?

It is difficult to say, maybe she is a bit of all of the mentioned options.

So far it seems like she isn't trying to live a love story at least.

He also started with their elemental manipulation training, Naruto is a rare case in the land of Fire for having an affinity with wind and Fu got lighting for her affinity.

It was unlucky for them to not get a better combination of elements, they will lack powerful combination attacks but considering that they both are chakra powerhouses and jinchurikis it may not be so bad, but they will have to work harder to coordinate their attacks in an effective way.

He already asked Tsunade for jutsu scrolls for both his students, this will be his lowest performance as a teacher in his life.

Naruto is trying to cut leafs in two with his chakra and Fu is trying to generate the lightning by sending chakra to specific chakra points on her body and they were doing this during his lectures, much to his annoyance.

Fu is working on her own affinity by guiding her chakra thru certain points on her body to produce an electric discharge, she was making progress but it was barely better than Naruto's progress. She still has fun sometimes by poking Naruto with an electrified finger.

"Is Fu's turn over yet?" he asked, besides the jutsu scrolls Jiraiya also asked for an assortment of poisons and antidotes to build the kunoichi's tolerance the way he did with Naruto in the past, he still has enough of a few to start the process until he receives the package from Konoha.

"Almost there…" Fu said checking how many pages she has left until its Naruto's turn to read the book.

"You know we'll receive a package from Konoha soon right?" he asked only to earn himself a glare from the two teenagers, before today he never once spoke to them while they were reading together, inwardly he smiled, their glares meant he was intruding on something that was theirs and meant to be for the two of them and just the two of them. They were building a relationship now. 'Good job Fu'

"It's the jutsu scrolls right?" she asked annoyed, he already told them about that, but never mentioned the poisons nor the antidotes that will come with them.

"That and a few poisons I'm planning to use to build your tolerance" he said seriously gaining their attention this time.

"You mean like you did with me?" Naruto asked correctly guessing the obvious, he just nodded as an answer.

"Wait, you are planning to poison me?" there was alarm on Fu's voice he could easily see the discomfort the idea caused her, with Naruto it was never an issue due to his complete trust on him, but with Fu? This will represent a great leap of faith.

Up until now she knew her life was on his hands but with this training she will be putting herself at mortal danger, resisting would show common sense but also lack of loyalty… agreeing and surviving would show how much she is willing to risk for the village, and it would put her on a much better standing with the higher ups… the key word here is "surviving"

"And give you the antidote a few hours afterwards" Jiraiya said with a calm and soothing voice, trying to calm the kunoichi.

"That's not going to be fun…" Naruto said while closing his eyes as if remembering his own experience with this particular brand of training "Not with most poisons at least, there was a couple of them that makes things around you look much more… funny?"

"Funny?" Fu asked looking from Naruto to Jiraiya with inquisitive looks waiting for an explanation to the cryptic words from the blond.

"Hallucinogens" Fu's eyes widened a bit hearing that word from him and then turned her eyes to the blond with disbelief.

"You are into that stuff?" her voice was incriminating and reproaching with only a bit of disappointment.

"No!" Naruto said shaking his head with fury before giving Jiraiya a nasty look "It was one of the things that the village sent I swear!"

"He is right, he already did this training, most of the poisons are of the non-lethal kind but they are designed to weaken, confuse, disorient or paralyze the victim. This training will get you a better chance to avoid capture" he explained the same way he did earlier on his lecture about the importance of coordinating elemental jutsus without synergy managing to get the girl think of this process as something positive for the first time.

"How long does this take? To build tolerance I mean" she asked curious this time as if evaluating the pros and cons of being regularly poisoned.

"Normally? It would take a couple of years… but considering your status I'd say a few months, it took around six for Naruto" he explained doing his best to reassure his student, this won't feel fast as it will be.

"Alright, I guess it's ok as long as I get the antidote and can keep with the other training" she accepted with reluctance.

"Perfect, I have some leftovers from Naruto if you want to start now…"

0x0x0

Umino Iruka sighted, it's being a crazy year this one.

It all started after the jonins in charge of the academies had a meeting with the Fifth and they passed the order to their chunins instructors: they were to hold interviews with the parents of the children on their classes excluding a few of the most talented ones like Sarutobi Konohamaru in his class and the kids of chunin or higher ranked shinobis, students of the last year and of course children of the clans.

The Hokage was giving out "Incentives" to those families to migrate to Taki an allied village to the north, it has borders with Iwa an old and bitter enemy of Konoha, many of the parents are genin ranks or civilians to whom the idea of moving out from the safety of Konoha was not very appealing.

But the incentives were not something to scoff at, a considerable amount of money, a residence of their own in Taki, lowered taxes and for the shinobi it will also include a promotion… a promotion they knew was outside of their reach if they stayed in Konoha for most of them.

Iruka may not be a political master mind but he could read some of the situation, Taki was undermanned and in dire need of help. The families that will be moving will be supplying them with trained soldiers and students that could be deployed to the field in less than a year.

It was done once before, at the beginning of the Third's rule after the first Great War more as a way to show off just how strong Konoha was, and it worked. According to the history books the Tsuchikage, the Raikage and the Kazekage all sent scouting squads to check Konoha's defenses immediately and they found them to be as strong as ever and as a result they all left the village alone fearing to disturb the sleeping beast.

Back then they also send students with little talent and unskilled soldiers and it earned Konoha a strong reputation that persist to this day. However the situation of the village it's not the same as back then.

Not only they are struggling to keep the appearance of a strong village when they lack in numbers but also their rivals have enjoyed over a decade of peace which was with no doubt used to build their power.

Konoha is weak while their rivals are strong and the only thing they have going for them was the alliance with Suna and the minor hidden villages.

His faith in Lady Tsunade prevented him for expressing his opinion about this foolishness, they are giving up a lot of resources to an ally when the village itself it's in need, this show of strength they don't have could cost them dearly.

And the worst of all?

They are getting nothing in return.

0x0x0

Haruno Sakura felt excitement like never before while returning to her village after a successful mission.

It was the first mission she's taken outside of Konoha since she become the apprentice of the Fifth and also the first one she done without a jonin commander.

The mission was a simple B-rank with the objective to deliver sealed scroll to Taki and was led by Nara Shikamaru and his teammates Yamanaka Ino and Akimichi Chouji.

The Nara was the first to become chunin on her class after those fated exams she and all her friends took part in but before today she never really understood exactly how he earned his promotions when others like Sasuke, Naruto and Neji whom were obviously stronger and more determinate than him.

But now after confronting and defeating a squad of more experienced Iwa chunin that intercepted them on the way back to Konoha she understands exactly why Shikamaru was promoted.

Their formation was a variable of the classic Ino-Shika-Cho with two frontline fighters, but the way he had directed them was something else entirely, it was as if he could predict their foes next two moves.

Apparently the Iwa chunin also used a classic formation, one he has studied before and therefore was familiar with.

And they won, they won!

Sakura got her first kill today and it wasn't a clean kill, no, it was bloody and violent.

Her master taught her the secrets behind her strength and she used them today without restrictions on an Iwa chunin restricted by Shikamaru's jutsu, her punch destroyed the man jaw and the shaking of his head should have been enough to ensure his dead but her master taught her to ensure her kills so she threw a second punch to his abdomen and she almost felt his stomach explode on contact but she wasn't done yet, no she had repeated this combination over thousand times and she felt it hard to stop her muscle memory and land a third hit on her already dead opponent, she was sure her fist on the temple of the Iwa shinobi was completely unnecessary.

Chouji made short work of a stunned foe with his enlarged fist a third enemy turned on his own comrade cutting her throat before being taken captive by Shikamaru's shadow giving Ino time to go back to her own body.

That last terrified foe was put out of his misery by a shadowy tendril piercing his heart.

They were alive and their enemies were not.

While Ino and Chouji scavenge them for any valuables she checks her temporary squad for any injuries that needed her attention and finding mere scratches and pulled muscles hardly worth her skills she smiles.

For the first time in her life she was not a burden or a mere witness to the battle, for the first time she was not watching the backs of braver more powerful shinobis and for the first time on her life she is proud of herself as a kunoichi.

In three months' time there will be another chunin exams and she was ready for them right now, she can hardly wait.

Chouji, Ino and herself will be put together in a squad and just like today they will be unstoppable she will earn herself a promotion, she was sure of it.

"Get ready to dispose of the bodies" Shikamaru sighted.

Chouji takes two of the bodies on his strong arms while she and Shikamaru take the others, they will be dispersed and destroyed to throw off any possible search squad, Ino stays to clean the battlefield and erase their presence.

Standard procedure.

She leaps away towards the river where she will destroy the corpse with a few well-placed exploding tags she realizes that she has come a long way from the scared little girl watching the backs of her powerful teammates moving forward while her own legs felt paralyzed unable to keep up with them.

Now she is a fighter and a medic, an asset to any squad.

As she drops the corpse on a clearing she thinks of her traveling teammate: Naruto.

The loyal brave blond changed overnight after graduating from the academy. He still was the loud moron he was in the academy, but he become so powerful after somehow learning the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

In the academy she was always one of the best kunoichis in training on her class and she considered herself to be quite strong and capable and if someone back then would ask her who was stronger, she or Naruto she would have immediately responded that she was the stronger one, she had better grades.

But when her first contact with the reality of the shinobi world this perception changed completely.

Back in the land of Waves she first realized that Naruto was stronger than her, so much stronger than her, almost equal to Sasuke.

Grades on the academy means nothing in the real world, she understands that now and she wants to compare herself to Naruto once again and see where she stands compared with him.

Would she still be the scared little girl watching his back as he moves forward? Would she stand at his side as equal while they look for a way to bring Sasuke back as he promised?

Or would she be stronger than him, surpassed him, right now she feels like she's surpassed him, or at least surpassed the Naruto of a year ago.

She often wonders about him and what he is doing, she ask her master every month about the blond and she would always answers: "They are ok" or "They are doing fine" but never something specific or concrete.

She knows Naruto and Master Jiraiya are traveling around the elemental nations with her former teammate growing stronger with every passing day… she just wishes he could be back.

She misses the idiot teammate and his cheerful attitude, and his kind supporting smile, she misses her friend.

When he comes back she will be ready to help him fulfill his promise and bring back Sasuke.

Activating the exploding tags located on the Eight Gates she watches as the corpse of her kill withers away and turns into a mass barely human before it blows out scattering its bloodless remains all around her.

She and Naruto will be ready to bring Sasuke-kun back.

0x0x0

""Rikimaru!" the princess yelled as she watched her uncle Lord Ten descending upon her lover with his katana extended in what would be a lethal blow.

Rikimaru could barely hear her as all of his attention is focused on the man on his back ready to separate his head from his body.

He dodges by crouching slightly and jumping backwards stabbing himself with his blade in the center of his chest carefully avoiding his heart and lungs his long blade passes thru him and stabs lord Ten on his heart…

Oh come on, this is bullshit, you mean to tell me he didn't sever his spine with that stunt?"

"Hush Naruto-kun you are ruining the mood!"

"It's the bad, unrealistic writing that's ruining the mood not me!" to Naruto it was the truth, the book was obviously written by a civilian who thought he knew how shinobi fight and little knowledge of human anatomy.

He was sitting on the ground with Fu using each other's back for support, his teammate was poisoned with a toxin that paralyzed her, sitting and listening to him as he reads out loud its pretty much the only thing she can do until Ero-sennin gives her the antidote.

"Rikimaru could have a bloodline that allows the blade to pass thru his bones!" she insist, the love story between the shinobi and his client, the daughter of an aging Daimyo who needed protection from her family and her power hungry uncle would have been better without the fights, they seriously sucked, the writer seemed to think that shinobi only had to will their chakra to do their bidding instead of training day in and day out to control their latent energies and he certainly had no idea of how long it takes to create a new jutsu because the protagonist has already invented three on the spot when it was convenient for the story.

"And he conveniently forgot to mention it for twenty three chapters?" the rest of the book was ok, just the shinobi stuff was so inconsistent and inaccurate, it was actually a bother to try and visualize the fights described on the book.

"Just keep reading please I want to know what happens with Rikimaru and Kikuhime, that was the final battle I know it!"

Fu has the habit of reading nonstop when the plot of a story its reaching its climax, that's fine when she is reading alone but not when they are supposed to be reading together, and lately the poisons effects made reading difficult for her so she would pressure him to read longer than they were supposed to read in a day.

It was nice to have her paying so much attention to him but this is the last book they have for reading and they would not be going back to a town in another week or so, that's why he needs he has to limit their reading to make it last.

But truth to be told, the green haired kunoichi managed to do in a month what Iruka-sensei and the other instructors in the academy failed to do in years.

She made him like reading.

Maybe, it was not like he loved reading now but he looked forward to the time he would spend with her, reading means spending time with her and that is something he enjoys greatly, even when she sends small electric discharges thru his body.

That annoying lighting affinity of hers would make him jump whenever he was too immersed into a story "A shinobi must remain always alert" that's what she says, he would believe that's why she pokes him if she didn't had that sassy smile on her face every time he was poked.

And that made him think of his own affinity: wind.

He was progressing at a much slower rate than her, she was already producing some results while he barely scratched his leaves when he was supposed to cleanly split them in half with one cut, it was so frustrating.

"That's all the reading we're doing today Fu-chan" he said firmly and closed the book with a snap to let her know he was serious.

"I didn't knew you were such a tease Naruto-kun!"

"A tease huh?" he said while gently standing up letting Fu's paralyzed body lay on the ground he showed her the book and opened it again playing with its borders moving his fingers up and down on it "Its your turn to read anyway… Ow!" he accidentally cut his finger on the pages of the book!

"Big bad future Hokage cuts himself with a paper, wait until the village hears of this!" she has the same sassy smile on her lips, the same one she always has when she gives him an lighting poke, but she is right, he did cut himself with a paper, a fine razor sharp paper cut his calloused finger, a finger that's harder than a leaf…

He dropped to book to the ground and picks up leaf and puts it between his hands instead and he channels his chakra into a thin sharp edge, thin as paper…

Once he releases his chakra the leaf is completely cut in half, not a clean cut, but he did it! he rushes to show Fu the two halves of the leaf "I did it!" he shouts excited at his own accomplishment, it took her a second to realize what he did but when she did she gave him a small warm smile that was full of pride and… relief?

"Well done Naruto-kun!" she shares his enthusiasm and her smile grows bigger "I would give you a hug but…" she moves her eyes from side to side reminding him that she can't move.

So he has his hot teammate temporarily paralyzed on a time that calls for celebration and a pent up desire for payback for all those lightning pokes she's given him…

Jiraiya it's a few meters away working on his notes with a bottle of sake of unknown origins… perhaps he could get away with a few seconds of payback.

"Naruto-kun?" the look on his face must have alerted her he is up to something, but no matter, he will have his payback.

Fast as the wind he crouches next to her and starts tickling her ribs close to her breast 'No! Bad! Don't look!' he focuses on her face instead where she is doing her best to avoid laughing but to no avail.

She starts laughing harder and harder begging him to stop, Jiraiya reacted a few seconds later and came to check what's happening, that made him stop as his master analyzed the situation.

The activity its innocent enough to make his master smile but he makes no move to stop him and then Jiraiya retreated.

"Sensei help!" Fu pleaded desperately while watching their sensei walk away, so tickling its ok on the old pervert book? Perfect!

"You will pay for this Naruto-kun!" her threat is ignored as he continues to enjoy his payback.

What can she do to make him pay?

Lighting pokes? He is used to them.

Take away the books? She likes the reading more than he does.

Take away the ramen? There is no ramen in the wild.


	17. Sexy Jutsu 2,0

It was well past midnight and her sensei and fellow student were fast asleep, well at least Naruto was, she was never sure when Jiraiya was concerned, it was better to assume he was watching, it calmed her.

She felt silly showing her apparently sleeping master the kunai in her hand and making cutting motions around her head while holding her green hair on hand, after a minute of repeating the same motions without any reaction from Jiraiya she decides that either he is ok with it or he is really sleeping.

Their fire was still burning and providing enough light for her task. Her blond boyfriend to be breathe was even indicating he was asleep, carefully she gets closer and closer until she is close enough to grab his hair.

She pulls it gently, testing to see if he would wake up, she pulls again with no reaction again.

The kunai on her hand was specially prepared for this task, it was as sharp as a kunai could be, she spend hours making sure of that, she pulls a thing lock of blond hair and pushes the blade against it cutting near the scalp, and to her pleasure the hair its cut without any reaction from her blond, she smirks.

She told him he would pay and he still tickled her for at least twenty minutes before he got bored and left her on the ground all blushed and sweating, fighting to keep her breathe even.

She will shave him bald even if it takes her all night, even if she must cut hair by hair!

That is a promise of a life time.

0x0x0

Jiraiya watched as Fu shaved Naruto's head, he knew he wouldn't wake up.

Being a neutral party in a prank war tends to be hilarious, and he planned to enjoy it while it last.

A week ago when Naruto decided to tickle Fu half to death he didn't needed to hear the almost unintelligible words the kunoichi could manage to get out thru bouts of hysterical laughter to know what would eventually happen.

"You will pay for this!"

He couldn't wait for the morning when Naruto awakens from his drug induced sleep to find himself bald.

His face will be priceless!

0x0x0

Waking up before the first sunrays Naruto felt refreshed and his head felt lighter than usual, the wonders of a good night of sleep prepared him for another day of training, and hunting, it was finally his turn to go hunting again.

Today he would find something light, just enough to last the day because tomorrow they will head to a close by city to resupply and do some urban environmental training.

Taking his flask of water he takes a sip and uses some of its contents to wash his face, now completely awake he takes off in search for his prey.

0x0x0

An hour later he was returning to the camp with his prize of hares and a small boar, yay lucky him!

It's been months since he had any pork meat and a diet based on hare meat, fish and wild berries gets boring really fast, so he was happy, very happy.

And it surely has nothing to do with the fact that Fu has never caught any boars, nothing at all, so when he had the camp on sight he pushes himself to go faster and lifting his hand showing off his boar to Jiraiya and Fu, mainly Fu. He was understandable confused when instead of praising him for his hunting skills his fellow student and master started laughing so hard that Jiraiya doubled over his stomach and Fu fell to the ground holding her abdomen with one hand and punching the ground with the other, he naturally didn't know what to think of it.

He looked at his boar trying to see if there was something funny about it, carefully examining it and even rotating it so he could see all of it produced no result other than making the other two ninjas laugh harder, he looked at his feet trying to find something wrong, his pants where ok, he lifted his sandals one at a time and examined the bottom looking for some shit he might have stomped on but they were as clean as you can expect.

Jiraiya joined Fu on the ground in a renewed fit of laughter, he needed a mirror. Now!

He doesn't own one and neither does Jiraiya nor he is sure about Fu, but asking her for one doesn't seem like a good idea for the moment, so he takes a cup and his flask of water and starts pouring water into the cup.

He manages to get a reflection of his face on the cup and to his horror he notices his golden mane was all but gone and all it was left of it was some irregular patches of hair here and there, it gave him an overall ridiculous appearance.

He could see now… he was pranked!

Who was the culprit?

Jiraiya certainly has the skill to pull it off, but he has no reason to prank him like when Shichi pushed a drunk Han into a brothel to get him in trouble with Jun in Tales of a Missing Nin.

Then there was Fu, why would Fu want to prank him?

'I mean I'm adorable, why would she prank me?'

Then he remembered what he did a week ago, that prolonged tickling session was fun and hardly worth a prank of this magnitude… but she has a motive.

So it was her?

"FUUUUU!"

Dropping the coup he confronted the still laughing kunoichi, he waited for her to stop, then he waited a bit more, but she wasn't stopping.

Finally she managed to reign her laughter enough to say "I told you, you would pay for it" and then started laughing again.

Jiraiya had finally stopped and he was steading his breath, at least there was some good news, he looked at Fu who finally was managing to get a serious face, but just for a second, and then she had a mischievous smirk adorned her features.

"We're even now" she said, but it was not true, she was perfectly fine after his ticklish attack, it would take him weeks for his hair to grow back, no her payment was too much, she needed change…

He needs to do something now to make things even, truly even, but what could he do?

Any physical retribution was out of question, he could wait until she's sleeping and shave her hair… not that would be copying, he could dye her hair? Sure making her hair orange would be awesome, and she might actually look good too… orange is that awesome.

But he doesn't have anything to dye her hair and he wanted to do something now!

He was suddenly struck by inspiration, there was a certain jutsu that always got him a few laughs, but will it work on her?

It was designed to be used on male targets and he could not ignore she was obviously female… but perhaps the jutsu could be modified to suit his needs?

It's worth a try.

Closing his eyes he searched on his memory for any data that would allow him to succeed on his payback quest, he tried to form a mental image for this, but it was noticeable more difficult than with the male targeted version of this technique.

"I don't think I owed so much, so here is your change… Sexy Jutsu" he hastily made the hand seals for the transformation technique and suddenly he transformed into what he thought as a future version of himself, without any clothes on and only a small cloud of smoke covering his pelvic region, the form he took was a taller lean form with defined muscles.

Her reaction was instantaneous and she fell on her butt with wide eyes and a blush on her face, she moved her face slightly to the side but her eyes remained on the illusion he created, when she didn't look away he got bolder and started to make a few silly poses he thought would be provocative, and he could see her smiling.

The illusion was stopped by an angry Jiraiya who hit him in the head, hard.

"Never do that again when I'm close!" his master shouted and took off towards the closest body of water… presumably to wash his eyes.

"Yea, never do that again…" Fu agreed, now he felt they were even, at least until she spoke again "In front of him"

Feeling self-conscious for the first time he looked away and blushed.

0x0x0

She knew she was going a bit too far with her retribution last night but hey, hair grows back! So there was no permanent damage done at all.

She did not expect that… variant of the transformation technique, it was a very bold move from the blond, but pleasant none the less.

And she must admit that he got her this time, but she got him too, he won't use that jutsu again anytime soon.

After their little prank war was over Jiraiya too Naruto aside to teach him a new jutsu: Ninja Art: Hair Needle, the jutsu itself it's supposed to elongate, harden and allow the user to manipulate the hair at will, but the blonds attempts were far from successful, but as a side effect the blond got his hair into an uneven mess ready to be cut back into his former style.

Her teammate was trying to do it himself but was having a hard time with it, mainly in the back of his head where he could not see what he was doing and he cut too much again leaving him with a patch of scalp exposed. Sighting he performed the jutsu again, his head becoming a yellow irregular ball, it was difficult not to laugh at him like that.

"Need help there?" she asked sincerely, she was not planning to prank him again and it really looked like he could use a hand, but he was watching her wearily, not fully trusting her. She is the responsible for his predicament "I promise to leave your hair looking good Naruto-kun, we have a date tomorrow… remember?" sighting and lowering his head he gave up and offered her his kunai.

Taking the offered weapon Fu started to cut the obvious excess first and remembered last night when she doing this with much more patience and care to not wake him up, and while doing that she managed to get a sight of a Naruto with shorter hair, it was a look that could work for him…

"Hey Naruto-kun?"

"Huh?"

"Can I try something with your hair?" it was possible that he wouldn't notice how much she was cutting, but the result could be interpreted as a new prank from her part.

"I thought we were done with the pranks!" Naruto whined in a cute way, she giggled in response.

"Not a prank, I swear! It's just a new style I want you to try and if you don't like it you can just use Hair Needle and I'll cut it like it was yesterday. I promise!" she said in a hurry, he could have interrupted and denied her easily, the probability for it to be another prank was real.

"No funny business Fu-chan, and you have to leave my hair like it was yesterday morning if I don't like it ok?"

"Sounds fair!"

0x0x0

Naruto didn't looked like Naruto with his hair like that, it was so short and no longer spikey, it attracted a lot less attention in his opinion, it was a good thing for a shinobi.

Jiraiya himself liked his own hair style, it looked cool and it was practical when he used Hair Needle for defense and attack, and to top it all: women loved his hair.

Many of the brothels girls asked him how he kept his hair so silky and soft after they touched it, it was weird to think that more than a couple of ninja met their end impaled on it, one time he ended with his hair as red as Kushina's.

Right now they were walking on a public road closing in a small town, urban training was all but over, but his charges do need time off from time to time and complete isolation is never a good idea.

He would buy a few supplies, drink and research the local hot springs and of course the red zone.

His spy network was quiet the last three months, it was worrisome and he felt in the dark with no news on the Akatsuki or any of the great nations, in times like this he would have gone looking for some info by himself on the past… but now he was babysitting two students.

Their little date was happening today or tomorrow, and by kami, the Log and the will of fire it will be awkward if they try to make something special out of it, they are already a couple in his eyes, they would be formalizing it with the date, but if they tried to celebrate it, it would not be much of a celebration, they haven't been together long enough to have something to celebrate, they should just try to have some fun and be done with it.

"Hey Naruto come over here!" he called his male student, they were walking behind him in a comfortable silence pretty much all day.

"Ero-sennin?" he asked curiously, there was no real danger around, but the blond was mature enough to recognize his senses are not up to par with his.

"Today's the big day?"

"I guess, I mean if we make it in time we could wander around and see if there is a place we could use or something" the blond's cheeks flushed slightly, he was not nervous at least.

"So you two don't really have anything planned for this, do you?"

"Kind of hard to plan on advance when we never been in town before" was that sarcasm? Good, when he first found the male jinchuriki would have not been able to identify or use sarcasm at all, it felt good to know he was growing more than just physically.

"I always thought you were good on the whole 'Thinking on the fly' stuff" that was easily his non jinchuriki related quality, and it was something to be cultivated.

"In a fight I guess" the blond said looking at the road at his feet and rubbing the back of his neck, he was doing it less and less, getting used to be praised for his qualities, "I know a lot of how to piss people off… but this… stuff, I don't know" Naruto looked at him again showing his insecurities to him, not even trying to hid them, it was a silent cry for help and guidance.

"You know Naruto?" he asked his apprentice while rubbing his chin with his index finger, this was not something easy to share, especially at his age "I've never had a proper date" the look on the male jinchuriki's eyes told him all he needed to know, there was disbelief and dismay "When I was your age the second great war was on the horizon, everyone knew it would happen, all everyone did was training, eating, shitting and sleeping, not in that order mind you, but love and romance? Not even the civilians had time for that, they were all making weapons or putting food on preserve, then there was the war itself a few years later, by the time it was done I just wanted to travel and find a way to bring peace to the land…"

"Of Fire?" Naruto interrupted him thinking he was completing his sentence for him probably.

"All of the land kid, it is my dream!" he said softly, his voice was almost a whisper, its been so long since he last thought of the elder's toad prophesy, his student that will be a revolutionary that will either bring peace to the world or its destruction, and all of that would be decided by his own actions, but when Minato died he lost all hope on it, the toad elder was wrong, if neither Minato nor Nagato are the child of the prophesy then it was obvious that the elder was wrong.

Of course he has more students now but Naruto… the kid has suffered so much and a lot of it was his responsibility, Minato and Kushina made him their child's godfather! He was supposed to look after him if something happened to them.

And when he needed him the most he was far away looking for Orochimaru, barely even remembering he had a godson, and when he finally met Naruto he almost broke, the blond spikey hair and blue eyes were so much like Minato, but everything else was Kushina, it made him glad that Fu changed Naruto's hair style, now Naruto looked less like Minato, it helps him to think of Naruto as Naruto and not as a mini-Minato.

He has a lot to make up to the blond, and he will not throw the weight of the world on his shoulders, he will train him, help him achieve his dream and make sure he can have a family, he deserves better than a life trying to respond a question without answer, if the world will ever have peace, true peace, it'll have to find another sacrificial lamb: Uzumaki Naruto and his family will be off limits.

"How you going to do that sensei?" the blond in question asked, curious about how he planned to achieve such a feat.

"I still don't know how kid, I'm still looking for a method to achieve my goal" honestly, every day he thinks of it less and less, his was not a dream he can accomplish, if the prophecy was ever true he never stood a chance, his job was to teach the person who can, so looking for an answer himself it's pointless.

"And you think the answers are in a hot springs? Thought you were looking for breast that don't sink on water" ok, maybe he learning to be sarcastic wasn't all that great after all.

"Fuck off kid! Even if the answer it's not there it's still worth looking!" then the muse hit him, perhaps it would make a nice comic scene, taking his notebook from his robe he started scribbling about the unsinkable ships of Captain Himiko… he will have to make her a Commodore for the joke to work but it's worth it!

"You mean it actually happens?!" Naruto asked in a whisper, curiosity and awe in his voice. Ha! The kid finally acting his age!

"It's a rare and rewarding sight kid" the smirk on his face and the dumbfounded face on Naruto must have finally made Fu curious about what they were talking about.

"What are you talking about?" the kunoichi said halfheartedly, not really sure if it was something she wanted to know, it was something that she had catalogued as "Boys-stuff", and rightly so, it was something they did occasionally and it certainly consisted of them speaking about thing she had no interest in.

"Boys-stuff" Naruto said that trying to stop smiling, it was something the blond enjoyed, the comradeship they shared on this "Boys-stuff" moments was something closer to a friendship than it was to their master/student actual situation, it was something Jiraiya himself enjoyed.

"Boys-stuff or Boys-love?" Fu countered, to Jiraiya it was just a small jibe to his manliness, but to Naruto it was more of a personal affront, it was actually as funny to him as it was for Fu to watch the blond react when she questioned his preferences, trying to find the best words to convey just how much the notion of man on man action disgusted him, and it made it all the more funny.

Hard to believe he was like him in the past.

"Actually I was asking Naruto if we should go a little bit faster and see if you two can have that date of yours tonight" that made her look uncomfortable and expectant, he could see easily that she would like that "So what do you say?" he asked knowing that for her this thing was much more than she could show, this was a necessary step to ensure her survival, she was anxious and he knew it.

"Alright, let's go I want see if I can get some inspiration on the city"

0x0x0

Mayumi was a happy married woman, she just recently moved out of the small town she was born into the slightly bigger her husband was born.

Her Masashi-kun is a merchant and its always on the road to get this or that for the shop his parents own, it's a decent way to earn a living, it is not danger free but living in a world where kids are trained to kill and maim since they can walk guarantees that there is no thing such a completely safe job.

Oh it is not all the fault of the ninjas of course, there are some decent people among them, like the lovely lady and her students that escorted her here with her husband's caravan, she remembers them well enough, the beautiful woman with that extravagant bandage dress-like thing, she had red eyes and black hair and moved with absolute confidence, it was something she came to envy, Mayumi herself was a mature woman confident as a woman, chef and wife… but she knew of the dangers that lurked on the many roads of the Land of Fire, the bandits that attacked honest, working travelers and merchants are, in her eyes, amoral creatures in human form, they are beast that pillage, kill and rape when allowed and absolutely relished the suffering of their victims.

When she was a child she was part of a group that was attacked by bandits, and as much as she would like to forger, she remembers how those… those bandits killed some of the men in her group and how her mother held her in a hug trying to make sure she could not see what was happening but she could not fully shield her from the atrocities those men and women committed against her group.

She remembers the two men they killed and a girl a few years older than her was dragged to the woods and never returned, for years she wondered what happened to that girl, until one day, when she was old enough she understood the fate of that poor girl, that she was probably abused, enslaved, raped until she died or managed to escape.

She remembers her father blaming the great war saying that Konoha had no ninja to spare to protect the roads, that was when she learned about ninjas.

Her father talked to her about them, saying that the shinobis were great warriors of their nation and praising their valor and strength, naturally she asked her mother how to become a ninja, she wanted to be one after her father spoke so highly of them. Her mother had, of course talked her out of the idea telling her all the horrible things that ninja women had to do. It wasn't hard for her to understand that those women were like prostitutes, or that's what she believed for years.

When Masashi-kun hired the team from Konoha it was the first time she met ninjas in person, that Kurenai woman immediately triggered her jealousy, in her uneducated mind she was going to travel with a prostitute close to her husband right after their marriage.

Instead she observed a calm and collected woman who barely spoke to her husband preferring to spend her time talking to her students, two boys a girl and a really big and intelligent white dog. One boy was loud and brash while the other was so quiet she and her husband often forgot he was there, the girl was one of the cutest things she's ever seen, she was kind and polite and a bit shy, at first she thought she was blind but her sensei assured her that there was nothing wrong with her eyes and that in fact the little girl was without a doubt the person with the best eyesight in the group.

It took them a week of travel to complete the travel to her new home so she practically had to speak to that Kurenai woman to satiate her curiosity if nothing else going as far as to discretely ask if what her mother told her when she was a child about ninja women was true.

Kurenai-san assured her that they were not prostitutes in a polite yet threatening way, she could understand where she was coming from, if someone asked her that question there would be hell to pay, that's for sure.

She was glad her husband hired the ninjas back then.

They tried to be discreet about it, but she noticed anyway, hard not too when all but one ran to the forest and when they returned only saying that it was just something they needed to check, not admitting they had just fought, but she could see the blood on the fangs of the big, white dog…

"Want to get a bowl Naruto-kun?" the voice of her costumer alerted her before the bells of her stand could make a sound. A teenage girl entered her ramen stand, she was dressed in white almost completely, her tanned skin and green hair completing her rather unique look.

Mayumi has been living in this town for months now and yet it was the first time she was seeing this girl, granted, girls her age tend to stay away from her business thinking her ramen will make them fat and undesirable to the boys.

"You know I do Fu-chan" the voice of the boy made her notice that the girl was probably in a date right now, and from what she just heard it must be going well, the boy in question was carrying a couple of heavy looking bags, she could distinguish square shapes on them.

"Only one though, or we won't have time to go to the theater… can't believe this place has a theater!" she looked at the girl, she could tell she was excited, and that they were not from this town, the theater was the best thing in town, people of all ages would go there to waste their time, getting her own stand close to it was a feat on itself, but it was worth it, business here was plentiful.

"Just one? Come on, can't we get at least two? Haven't had ramen in weeks!" the boy had very short spikey blond hair and dressed on just blue pants and a maroon shirt, but she recognized him, not many people could have those whisker like marks on their cheeks.

"Do I know you?" she asked knowing fully well who the boy was, the little pest had terrorized her other town hot springs for weeks, it was something impossible to forget, and as far as she was concerned, the boy will not get any ramen here!

The look on his face told her that he recognized her as well, she supposed she was hard to forget, not many red headed ramen chefs must have chased after him with old rusty kitchen knives, and there were not many red heads in the Land of Fire.

"I think you know you are banned" she told him, she could see him opening and closing his mouth without making any sound, too surprised to make a sound.

"What does she mean Naruto-kun?" the girl! The poor girl that he is dating! Does the poor thing knows what this pervert does to pass the time?

"Look sweaty, if I were you, I would dump this guy right now! He is nothing but trouble!" she could not warn the girl, or she would not be able to sleep at night.

"Naruto-kun what's happening here?!" it was good, she would expose him in front of the girl, she would get revenge and make a good deed at the same time.

"I'll tell you what's happening… Fu-chan, right?" she asked gaining the attention of the girl "the blond rat it's a peeping tom that spies on the women in the hot springs!" she watched as Fu-chan's mouth formed an "o" and then to her surprise she laughed.

"Ohhh! He doesn't do that anymore, he is a good boy now!" she felt a dumbfounded now, the girl knew and still dated him? It was weird.

"You knew?" she had to ask, her curiosity was her weakness.

"Yea, I've been traveling with him and Hiraya-san for months now, after he was caught in another town they had a very serious talk and he stopped!" Hiraya-san? Must be the old man he traveled with.

"So you don't mind?" she was angry at the forgiving nature of the girl, but also curious, if she likes the answer she may let him eat here after all.

"I never liked him spying on women, but he stopped and has been behaving ever since" the girl explained, and Mayumi herself had to remember that Hiraya-san always said that it was all just a stage on the kid's life, that it was natural for the boy to feel curious and some other gibberish she didn't care to remember… could it be true?

"Ok, I'll serve him a bowl if you vouch for him" the smile on both teens made her day.

 **A/N: yea had a case of writers block with a portion of life with it, sorry for taking so long to update.**

 **Please think of Naruto's new hair style as that of the Naruto: The last Movie if you want to visualize it better.**

 **And for those who remember… yeah Mayumi it's the same ramen chef from chapter two LOL.**

 **A/N 2: when i was publishing the chapter i completely forgot about Jiraiya's scene, blame it on how long it took to write it, so yea, this chapter it's defenetely important for the plot**


	18. Fireworks

Careful management of the brush it's probably the most important non-theoretical element of Fuinjutsu, the first two scrolls he was handed to study emphasized no less than fifty times each how important it's to have a precise and steady hand at the moment of applying the ink on the paper.

He should not be doing this.

The four scrolls he read so far strongly discouraged the creation of any kind of seal without the supervision of a seal master or a capacitated supervisor, but the responsible for the series of this educative scrolls said it so much that in his mind he was practically daring him to try when Jiraiya was not looking.

"Do not attempt without supervision" what was he a three years old using scissors?

"It is necessary to have a proper instructor to verify the integrity of the matrix before applying any chakra" the guy doesn't even advertise the risk to lose a finger and he expects someone to take him seriously?

"Under no circumstances you are to try this matrix without a seal master at your side" Pfft! Yea sure, the guy must have wanted to say: I dare you.

"You must not forget that this is a highly explosive and unstable matrix that can be triggered if any of its elements it's misplaced" Duh! Just… Duh! What is the point of naming the whole chapter Explosive Notes if you didn't want things to go out with a BOOM!

The movie they just watched: Princess Gale II: The Rise of Dark Chakra, left them both with a pent up desire to see things explode!

So he took some of Jiraiya's ink and paper and a few rocks and started working on the explosive notes described on chapter six in his fifth scroll on Fuinjutsu studies, a little variation on the formulae's here and there coupled with the use of "different" sources of chakra for the application of the matrices results in a variety of colors when activating the seal.

Throwing the rocks with his seals into the air and activating them resulted in fireworks of orange, purple, yellow, white and red fires and loud noises that had Fu-chan marveled, and to kick things up a notch he also created fire suppressing seals that where to be thrown alongside the explosive notes that when activated in the precise moment gave the visual effect of watching the explosions be sucked like a multicolored whirlwind on the skies!

The townsfolk was also watching and enjoying the improvised fireworks as well but the two of them were well hidden, no civilian should be able to spot them.

Today after rushing to the town Jiraiya dismissed them as soon as they registered in a hotel, a room with three bed they will be sharing as every other time.

They walked on the unknown streets looking at the shops, restaurants and stands looking for someplace to have their first date, the theater wasn't difficult to spot, it had a huge sign visible from a few blocks away, they immediately checked the place and decided that would be the perfect place, of course it helped that they didn't had many other options available.

So while they waited for the function they entered the local bookstore, they got a few of them from the used part of the shop and used their urban environmental training to "acquire" most of their new collection, they left the place with no less than forty new books.

Knowing Fu they will have reading material to last until their next visit to a town.

Of course he was uncomfortable "acquiring" books by illicit methods, but the two of them are Konoha genins receiving a basic salary on a monthly basis, so they were far from rich and need be save their ryu notes for stuff they cannot "acquire" like ninja tools.

After that they found that ramen stand where that red headed chef recognized him, honestly he thought the date would be ruined by the woman but Fu-chan saved the day there, she convinced her to serve him a bowl, it was uncomfortable in the beginning, Fu had to explain a lot of things to the chef to convince her that he was no longer a peeping tom.

He did not said sorry once while he there, he already apologized on her other town and she chased him away with an old rusty kitchen knife.

But the woman said something interesting, something they agreed they will try tonight in their room if Jiraiya is not there when they go back… it sounded promising.

"I thought you were not doing well with Fuinjutsu" it's not like Naruto wasn't good with the art, he doesn't like reading warning and the almost retarded way in which they explained the theory, to him it was as if the author was assuming every reader was mentally challenged.

"I don't enjoy the scrolls" he said honestly and explained "They have a lot of warnings and the theory is repeated and quoted again and again, it's like the person who wrote them expects people to forget what they read ten minutes ago"

"So you think you could learn faster if you had a better source?" she asked after throwing another rock to the sky, the red light on the sky illuminating her face, there was amusement and joy in her red tinted face, but there was something else… something he could not identify, he could only assume it was a positive emotion, or he hoped so.

Her question put doubts on him. He was never good with book stuff, his time in the academy taught him that, but Fuinjutsu… he had yet to struggle with anything described on the four and half scrolls he's read so far.

Sure sometimes he had to ask Jiraiya for some concept he was not familiar with that the scrolls assumed he should know… but after he understood what it was about he could fully comprehend what it all was about.

"Probably"

"Why don't you tell that to Ero-sennin?" she asked taking the last two homemade firework pieces and throwing them to the sky "I think he really wants you to learn Fuinjutsu"

The sky was illuminated by two explosions white and orange.

"I know" the blond said looking as the last remnants of light disappear on the black background of the night "But Fuinjutsu it's so rigid, there is like no flexibility on it, a Seal does one thing and one thing only, hard to adapt if anything goes wrong"

"That's why we train Taijutsu and our affinities Naruto-kun"

What she said was true, their taijutsu and jutsus provide more flexibility to their combat styles than any Seal ever would, any single seal that is "Why you don't want to learn Fuinjutsu though?" at first he thought she was just avoiding extra work, but she isn't really the kind of person to do that, he knows that now.

"I don't know if I'll be any good at it" she said looking to the side, avoiding eye contact. That is not the real reason.

"You'll never know if you don't try"

"It's getting late Naruto-kun, want to go back the hotel and see if we can do 'that' thing on the beds?" now that sounded like fun.

"Sure thing Fu-chan"

0x0x0

They moved their beds together, they were too small and they would have no room to maneuver if they don't put them to next to each other, and this wouldn't be half as fun if they cannot move.

The two teens were looking at each other in the eyes, both of them didn't feel so sure about this.

They are bound to make a lot of noise, noise that could be heard on the neighboring rooms, and what if sensei comes back and catches them?

"You ready?" Fu asked, she was nervous, and so was him.

But this would be the ideal way to end their first date and the both knew it, with a smile he nodded and then jumped.

0x0x0

Three months without a woman was a long time for a man like Jiraiya, he was used to the life in the roads, visiting cities, towns, villages always with his eyes open and his ears sharp for any rumor or a suspicious sight, and in every place he visited he always, always made sure to visit the brothels, he not only enjoyed the women company, but there was also a couple of them that worked for him as information brokers.

They did not worked on the beds of course, they were successfully retired. They saved enough money to buy their own places.

It was never a surprise to find a whore who owns a brothel, it was after all, their profession, what they know, and it was difficult to get away from that lifestyle.

This "Madams" sometimes employ the younger women for more than what they have between their legs, and he is not speaking about their breast. The men that frequent those places often forget that the women they spend time with are also human beings, with hopes and dreams… and ears, and they also forget that their mouths can be used for more things than oral sex, they forget that their personal toys can listen what they say, remember it and communicate it to a third person, to the "Madam"

Tonight after using the service of a well hidden Madam's brothel he spoke to the owner, a woman on her fifties like himself, she was still beautiful and well preserved, one would say she aged well.

She had news for him.

A girl from wind country recently joined her workers and she had some crazy tale about a drunk monk, a demon of sand and a seal.

He will have to send a toad to the Land of Wind, his agent there was not the most motivated man in the world but when you give him a lead it was impressive what he could find.

Entering his hotel planning to head for the shower and wash out the smell of sex and sake before his students can notice what he was up to, but the man in the reception was looking at him with a sense of urgency he was not expecting.

"Hiraya-san!" he called him, he was a young man, not particularly tall or broad, he was a fishbone easy to intimidate and he seemed extremely nervous.

"Something wrong" he asked on his best reassuring tone, no need to scare the man.

"It's your two charges" he said looking from one side to the other as if making sure they were alone and no one else would hear what he has to say "They are making a lot of noise on your room" that lifted his eyebrows, he couldn't be talking about 'that' kind of noises could he?

This was their first 'official' date, and it seemed like Fu was moving awfully fast and the kid had no intention to slow her down. Dam he made a good work with the kid.

"Sir, this is not the kind of establishment that allows that, both of them are under age, I won't say a word but please go upstairs and put an end to this, there are host complaining!" the man obviously wanted him to go and separate them for him, too coward to go and do it himself, Jiraiya betted that he would have just let them finish if he didn't showed up on time.

"Alright I'll go up there and have a word with them!" he said giving his best offended guardian impression and climbed the stairs and walked towards the room he shared with the jinchurikis… dam they were noisy, or at least the beds were, they themselves made no sounds but the creaking sound could be heard all around the place.

He knocked the door with force to produce a sound louder than the noise they were making "Naruto, Fu!" he called even louder before opening the door hoping they at least had time to cover themselves with a sheet, he did not want to see the kid's ass and Fu was much too young for his tastes.

But to his surprise the two of them were fully clothed bouncing on their beds with wide smiles on their faces that were rapidly fading, their expression changed radically now that they were caught.

What were they doing though?

Beds were not toys, they are tools to rest and they can also be defensive commodities and provide a wonderful diversions… not to mention they are the most popular piece of furniture to have sex on. They are certainly not to bounce on the mattress like idiots!

"What are you doing!?" he asked in utter confusion, he has never seen a shinobi commit such a misuse of furniture before.

"Bouncing on the mattress?" Naruto said, not sure if they was in trouble or not, to be honest, not even Jiraiya was sure if they were in trouble.

"Why?"

"I… it is Fun?" this time Fu spoke, trying to explain what they were doing. Frankly he would have preferred to catch them having sex at this point, at least he would know what to say if they were 'Dam, unpredictable teenagers!'

"You should totally try it!" she insisted, he looked at her as if she had grown a second head. Beds are for many things, but never to… just bounce of them, every shinobi in the world knows that!

"Who gave you the idea?" he inquired, there was no way in hell even Naruto would come with such a ridiculous idea.

"Um… the owner of a ramen place" Naruto explained with more conviction.

"A civilian?" of course… he would never truly understand a civilian's mind, so foreign, so impractical… "Alright, just stop, the neighbors are thinking you two are banging" they both blushed and sat on the beds suddenly ashamed to look at the other in the eye… that's something he can deal with, not with some civilian shenanigan.

0x0x0

Fu didn't slept that night, after sensei caught them bouncing on their mattress' they all took turns to shower, with Jiraiya being the first, she knew why and in all honestly, she appreciated that the old pervert had the decency to cleanse his body after visiting the brothel… because what else could he have done all afternoon and part of the night?

She noticed after turning the last light out that she was filled with energy, a funny feeling she could not identify very well, but she guessed was linked to the success her date with Naruto turned out to be, they had enough books to read until they had to return to Konoha, she had fun lying to that stand owner that somehow recognized Naruto-kun, she enjoyed very much the improvised game of let's pretend she had with the woman, the look she shared with Naruto-kun when chef mentioned her nephews bouncing on their beds… she knew he understood, it was something they had to try, the idea was so absurd it just needed to be tested, and it was really, really fun.

But the best part of the day?

The fireworks Naruto-kun pulled out of nowhere. The idea came out so suddenly and she couldn't stop marveling herself when the blond just grabbed the brush, paper and ink and started scribbling the seals out of his memory and she immediately recognized the exploding tag on the paper, any shinobi would have, but then what he did was what earned him her admiration adding a few more symbols here and there for purposes she doesn't really understands he activated the charge with a small quantity of chakra enveloped it on the handle of a kunai he had and threw it to the air and triggering it resulted on a purple flamed explosion, she never saw anything like it, when she asked him how he did it he gave her some sort of technical talk about symbols, alignment, chakra and fuel she couldn't really understand, however all that mattered was the end result, he made various other designs for the explosive notes and asked her to activate a few with her biju's chakra and once they had a considerable quantity they grabbed as many rocks as they could and started the spectacle, it was beautiful.

The marvelous spectacle aside she couldn't believe her teammate sheer aptitude to Fuinjutsu, she may not be learning the art herself but she has done enough reading on the subject, the forgotten fourth ninja art that has fallen out of use due to the effort and dedication it demanded from the students and here was Naruto-kun learning the art with only the standard scrolls as guidance because sensei thought he was having troubles grasping the concepts!

It was quite the opposite, the scrolls were going to slow for him and from the way he always complained they made him feel annoyed at the methodology used to teach.

She has always known that Naruto had the potential to become Hokage, from the first time he shouted it for some unknown reason in Taki she believed him, and with the pass of time and with them practically glued together as Jiraiya's students she could see more and more of that potential and she had no doubts in her mind he will achieve that crazy dream on his to become his Village's Leader.

The problem was… how long until his inevitable coronation happens? Will she be allowed to live until then?

The thoughts of not being able to be there when he achieves his dream was unbearable, she wanted to see him using what he calls: "That Ugly Red Hat" and see others acknowledge him, she often imagined it.

Him wearing elegant red and white robes with his naked head, not even his head band on his forehead as they stand on the top of a tower in front of all of the village shinobis and civilians waiting for some elder to give him the hat.

He would speak a few words to reassure the people, swear a few promises and then receive the hat and his coronation would be complete and every single person watching would get on their knees as a show of respect, all but her, she would be at his side smiling, he would turn to her and smile to her, take her hand and kiss it in a show of public affection that would mean so much, at that time she would be the wife of the Hokage and probably carrying his heir on her swollen belly…

Kami that was an embarrassing thought!

She wasn't entirely sure where it came from either, it was the first time her fantasy played in that direction, and while it was completely unexpected it wasn't exactly a repulsive idea, a family with Naruto-kun was most desirable from her survival plan point of view, she often thought she would have to give him a child at some point.

But this was the first time she found herself thinking of herself as a wife and a possible mother, before today all of her thoughts were directed towards bearing a child as a duty that she would impose upon herself and the carry on with her life…

But raising a family… with Naruto-kun?

That would not be surviving, that would be thriving!

She will tell Jiraiya about Naruto-kun's problems with his scrolls tomorrow and hope he can come up with a solution to that situation so Naruto-kun can reach his full potential with the art of Fuinjutsu.

0x0x0

He was waken up with a kick to his ribs, not painful but extremely uncomfortable, the blond brat liked to wake him up the most in that Kami-dammed way.

"Go away kid it's too early for this!" he said covering his chest with his arms covering the offended area to prevent any further attempts to get him up.

"Come on Ero-sennin I need to talk to you!" that was not the blond's pest voice so he opened his eyes to acknowledge his female student.

"It's too early Fu!" he needed no watch to know it was around five in the morning, his internal clock was as precise as the best mechanical piece produced on Suna.

"It's important!" she insisted crossing her arms in front of her chest, and looking at Naruto's still sleeping form.

He raised an eyebrow, he couldn't think of anything important enough to wake him up at this time of the day, but if it involved Naruto it was better to make sure of it.

Sighting he sits up on his bed and prompts her to talk using an impatient hand gesture.

"Yesterday Naruto-kun made some seals…" she says and makes a dramatic pause, he waits until she is ready to speak again, showing her he is willing to wait and listen "exploding tags"

"He did what!" his voice was controlled and not loud enough to wake up Naruto but they still carried an edge that put her on the defensive.

Explosive tags are definitely on the list of things the blond should not do on his own dammit!

"None of them exploded on our face!" she says trying to reassure him that everything was ok, but it was a major transgression, they could have been hurt easily with those seals!

"If he tries that again you MUST call me, he is not ready to do things like that alone, is that clear?!" he knew Naruto could be reckless but he had more faith in Fu, she was usually well behaved… because she thinks her life depends on it.

"I will sensei" she says but looks at him in the eyes and pauses again, something she seems to do when trying to convey something it's of great importance "but I those were not standard exploding tags… they were special their flames were of different colors, like fireworks" the smile on her face made it clear for him, it would have been quite the spectacle and a good way to end their date, and it was also an important fact, changing the color of the explosions was not something that was in any of the scrolls he has given Naruto to read.

"You mean he…?" he asked and she immediately nodded her head. That was important indeed.

"I'm going to kill that kid!" he said that trying to be angry, but he doubted he managed it, he was too happy to hear the blond has aptitude towards his clan's art to be mad anymore.

"I think he just need different scrolls because he doesn't like the ones he is reading at all!" she said, and he doesn't know what to think, those were the best scrolls to learn available in Konoha, he wouldn't have given the kid anything else.

But then again, the boy was an Uzumaki… no one else has come even close to what the clan was famed for, some of their seals were stored in Konoha, and in other hidden villages for study and no one could understand how they work because they make no sense at all, they directly violated some of the basic principles of the art and yet they worked, ohh and don't try to copy them because you never know what your seal will end up doing…

Maybe a new approach was required, for all he knew the brain of an Uzumaki could be wired in an entirely different way compared to a normal ninja mind.


End file.
